The Jigawa Government said it would establish a sports academy as part of its new initiatives to enhance sports development in the state.
The Commissioner for Information, Youths, Sports and Culture, Sagir Musa, said this in an interview in Dutse on Friday.
Musa said the government would partner with the private sector to fund the sector in order to accelerate sports development at all levels in the state.
“Sports funding is also another area that we’ve done our homework and have been able to identify potential partners to work with.
“In a nutshell, what I’m trying to say is that as far as sport is concerned; we’ve come up with a road map for its development in the state.
” I want to tell you that the government is hoping to set the stage rolling on how we can provide an academy that would be a kind of one-stop centre.
“It will engage in research, and development and at the same time fashion out professional development in terms of sporting activities in the state,” Musa said.
He said that the government would take advantage of the academy, and sports in general in order to train young players in tackling youth restiveness and unemployment in the state.
The commissioner assured of the government’s readiness to support the overall development of the sports sector in the state and the country at large.
“Having done an assessment on the state of sporting activities in the state, we’ve come up with a strategy on how we can harness sports potential.
“This will be done by at least supporting anyone that wants to engage in sports not just as recreation, but as business and economic,“ he said.
He said the importance of sporting activities to the development of a society could not be overemphasised.
“Apart from promoting unity and peace it also checks youth restiveness and unemployment in the society,“he said.
