DIG calls on sport ministries in states to engage youths in sporting activities
Ministry of Youths and Sports across the states of the federation have been charged to formulate policies on sports that would keep youths engaged at all times.
This advice was given by the Proprietor of Tower of Ivory Schools in Nigeria, retired Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Udom Ekpoudom, after conducting members of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Akwa Ibom state council, on a facility tour of sporting facilities of the school, at Ediene Abak, in Akwa Ibom state.
According to him, with such policy, youths would be guided on how to deploy their time for gainful engagements, thereby reducing their involvement in activities that are detrimental to the development of society.
The retired DIG said that his love for sports development in his schools stemmed from the fact that it engages students’ minds and intellects, thereby diverting their attention from social vices.
Ekpoudom stressed that his passion for sports cannot be compromised, hence his determination and commitment at providing sports facilities, knowing that the sector is so lucrative this time around.
Besides, he added that one of the drivers gingering him to build sports infrastructure was using the window as bait to sharpen the intellectual capacities of his students and pupils.
“I love my state and will always indulge in anything that will promote the development of my state. I ventured into schools because I intend to support the growth of education in my state. Today, we are building sports infrastructure as a deliberate attempt to leverage the love for sports to sharpen the intellectual capacities of our students and pupils”, he said.
Responding, the Akwa Ibom state chairman of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, Comrade Emmanuel Akpan, said the tour became necessary to avail SWAN members the opportunity to witness first-hand, the conscious efforts made by the school towards the development of sports.
“We have heard the story of the renaissance of sports infrastructure in your school and we are here to witness it first-hand. As sportswriters, we are committed to the development and promotion of sports and it behooves on us to report such development to the general public wherever it may take place”.
The infrastructure visited at the school which now comprises a nursery, academy, elementary and secondary schools with branches in Port Harcourt and other parts of the country are, a mini stadium of five hundred seating capacity complete with plastic seats and a standard grassed football field with reinforced aluminum goalposts, modern basketball, volleyball and tennis courts, two badminton courts and a standard indoor sports hall.
Others are a long jump pitch, a fully-furnished squash court, and a standard swimming pool.
