NAN-S-16
Games
By Olayinka Owolewa
Ilorin, Sept. 19, 2016 (NAN) The Director of Sports, University of Ilorin, Prof. Olawole Obiyemi says that the institution spent N50 million to get the hosting rights of the National Youth Games.
Obiyemi made this known in Ilorin on Monday while speaking with newsmen on the preparedness of the institution for the games so far.
He stated that the decision of the institution’s management to spend such a huge amount of money to host the games was due to the premium it placed on the development of young talents.
According to Obiyemi, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali is a sports lover and a believer in the development of the youth, hence his support for the games.
He added that the vice chancellor had always emphasised that the country needed to develop the youth to ensure a brighter future for them.
“We would have generated about N50 million from sandwich students who pay N15,000 each for accommodation.
“But because we want the National Youth Games to get the best, we asked them to seek accommodation elsewhere.
“The importance of the National Youth Games was made our priority as we are now making our accommodation available to over 4,000 athletes and officials free of charge,” Obiyemi said.
He said that the vice chancellor had since the beginning of the year commenced preparations towards its success, which involved series of meetings and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
“The vice chancellor is a sports loving man. In February, he delegated four professors to attend a meeting of the National Council of Sports in Tinapa,” he added.
On preparations of the institution to host the Games, he said that every necessary arrangement had been put in place to ensure the success of the second edition of the competition. (NAN)
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Edited by Ese E. Ekama