The 8th National Youth Games was officially declared open by President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, Delta State.
Tinubu, who was represented by the Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, said that the NYG has become a vision of hope for the nation’s sports.
“There is no better time than now to stage this National Youth Games after our participation at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics. Though our athletes did better at the Paralympics, there is an urgent need to re-strategise for Nigeria’s sports to return to winning ways. One of the reasons our sports is on the decline is age falsification. We need to get it right at this level.
“My administration is dedicated to repositioning sports for a better tomorrow. When I came here for the opening ceremony of the seventh edition of the National Youth Games last year, I was barely two weeks old in office. I can proudly say that there is a drastic improvement in the opening ceremony this year.”
Tinubu urged all Nigerians, particularly stakeholders in the sports industry, to join hands with the Sports Ministry in its desire to change the face of the nation’s sports.
Earlier in his welcome speech, Governor Oborevwori said the aim of hosting the National Youth Games is to discover young athletes to replace aging ones, adding that Delta being the home of sports in Nigeria would continue to lead the way.
Oborevwori said: “Nigeria’s performance at major international sporting events is on the decline. It may not be the problem of the sports minister. We need to tackle the issue together. I expect old records to be broken and new ones set in this year’s National Youth Games. Delta is proud to partner with the Federal Ministry of Sports in hosting this Games to reposition our sports.
“There is a good result from hosting these games because, you can see this last Olympics in Paris, our daughter, Favour Ofili did very well even though she did not win a medal. She is a product of these games.
“So, in this year’s games, we are looking for a talent better than Ofili. I assure our people that this year will be better than last year.”
He urged all the athletes to compete fairly saying: “You are on your way to winning medals for Nigeria at the Olympic Games.”
Oborevwori also urged the sports ministry to as a matter of urgency reverse the age limit of participation in the National Youth Games to its original U-17 from the present U-15 so that athletes discovered can easily form the bedrock of the National U-20 teams.
The Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Chief Solomon Ogba, said all that is needed to make Nigerian youths happy throughout the Games have been put in place.
He thanked the governor for giving the LOC and Delta Sports Commission the moral and financial support to host the Games.
Meanwhile, the rush for medals begins this morning as cyclists from the various states hit the road.
Over 6,000 athletes and 1000 officials are taking part in the Games.
Meanwhile, athletes and officials at the Stephen Keshi Stadium observed a one-minute silence for an official said to have died on his way to the Games.
Although the identity of the official or his function at the Games was not revealed as at press time, he was said to be leading a team to Asaba when he died on the way to the Delta State capital.