Dalung urges state governments to invest in sports

The Minister of Youth and Sports Barrister Solomon Dalung has called on state governments to invest in youth and sports development.

The Minister made the call when he paid a courtesy visit on the governor of Kwara state Abdulfatah Ahmed at the Government house, in Ilorin.

Barrister Dalung thanked the governor for investing in the National Youth Games through the provision of accommodation for the athletes and odfficials, facilities and funds.

“I want to thank and congratulate you for hosting this games. Kwara state will be remembered when the history of modern sports development in Nigeria is written because of the role the state government has played in providing not only accommodation, but also going out of your way to provide other logistics including financial support for the games.

“The panacea to all related development problems is to redirect energy to investment in sports. States will forget about spending on security because those who would naturally have created security  problems for you will be dutifully engaged. There will also be much for the economy because there will be so many commercial activities involving so many people and sports will attract tourism .

“If sports is the only unifying factor across this nation, why do waste so much money holding seminars and conferences instead of investing in sports? We will need your support to redraw the architecture of sports and reposition the image of Nigeria within the comity of nations. We are determined, committed and willing to serve our country selflessly”, Dalung urged.

In his response, Governor Abdulfatah said that sports development was one of the best things that any country could truly use as an instrument to drive it’s youth development.