Ex Sports Minister and Chairman of the defunct National Sports Commission, Mallam Bolaji Abdullah has reaffirmed his determination to consolidate on the gains of his sports development from the grassroots through Omoluabi foundation.
Bolaji Abdullah who is the People’s Democratic party Senatorial Candidate for Kwara Central, stated this while receiving the new leadership of Kwara SWAN under the chairmanship of Ayodeji Ismail at his GRA residence in Ilorin over the weekend.
He said Omoluabi foundation has been championing and bankrolling the sponsorship of Volleyball, Karate, Table tennis and Handball over the years and will sustain the events to further achieve the purpose for which it was initiated, noting that the idea behind the foundation is to use sports for youth development.
“Omoluabi foundation is initiated to use sports for youth development and some of those children who passed through the foundation have gone to represent Nigeria in major competitions at the international level”
He believes that Kwara state can carve a niche for itself from racket games such as Badminton, weight lifting, squash, table tennis, middle distance race and the likes, saying that football was never our game in the state as talented stars and athletes have been produced in racket games rather than football.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of Kwara SWAN, Ayodeji Ismail, said the visit was to officially introduce the new leadership of the association to him as a critical stakeholder in the sector and to partner him for training and retraining of members to guarantee their efficiency.
He lauded various initiatives of the ex minister while in office, noted with delight, the 2013 AFCON triumph, U 17 FIFA world cup and 2012 Olympic, stressing with dismay that the achievements have not been replicated since decades ago.
