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By: Attahiru Ibrahim Abdulkadir
Unarguably, Kwara stadium is one of the few stadia in the country with the best sporting facilities. When His Excellency, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq assumed office in May 2019, he promised to inspire massive turnaround and unprecedented milestones in sports development.
He emphasized on a sports and youth development as catalyst for the growth and development of the economy.
It is obvious, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq inherited a completely grounded sporting activities in the state.
In particular, the revival of fifteen years abandoned Kwara State Sports Festival, the events paraded budding talents from across all the sixteen local government areas of the state which is a total departure from the old style where only athletes from the capital will be picked.
In the area of sports facilities development, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has also scored himself remarkable high marks. These are; construction of eight units Squash Court, total renovation of the Baseball pitch and softball park, massive renovation of handball court, and proposed upgrading of the long abandoned multipurpose Indoor Sports Hall to boost individual interest in sports development.
Achievements recorded in the following can not be overemphasized; table tennis,swimming pool, basketball and handball where two of our girls made the national team and currently playing in Cameroon and another two of our boys also made the National Cricket team.
Another outstanding remarks was the Division 1 Volleyball Championship attended by Kwara United Volleyball Team and became no.3 position in Nigeria.
Adequate funding of Kwara United Football Club is giving our Afonja Boys edge in the ongoing premier league.
Still fresh in the memory, the recently concluded National Sports Festival tagged ‘Edo 2020’ for the first time Kwara Athletes came back with 44 medals.
The emergence of Kwara-born Nigeria and Africa gold medalist, Eniola Mariam at the just concluded 2020 World Para-Badminton Championship held in Spain is a true reflection of His Excellency, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s efforts and commitment in bringing back our lost glory in the sporting sector.
On the local scene Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq led administration has been using School Sports as the basis for aggressive talent hunting to unearth and groom young athletes in the State. Both public and private schools participated in the just concluded Young Talents Football competition organized by Kwara Football Academy. The sports loving Governor is about fulfilling his campaign promise of giving the people of Kwara North a befiting Stadium.
Within a short period of time, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has made his presence felt in the area of sports and he continues to invest heavily in sports development for the future of our teeming youth.
Attahiru Ibrahim Abdulkadir is Special Adviser on Sports and Youth Development.
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