The Gombe State Government says it is set to revive school sports festival as a tool towards fostering peace and unity while discovering young athletes for the state and the country.
The Executive Chairman, Gombe State Sports Commission, Mr Hamza Soye, made this disclosure when members of the state’s chapter of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) paid him a courtesy visit in Gombe on Wednesday.
According to Soye, the event will also be used to curb the menace of drug abuse by the youth while also fostering peace and unity that will galvanise more developments for the state.
He stated that the event which was last held in 2001 had been captured in the 2020 budget adding “we had wanted to do it before the National Sports Festival in Edo but for the time constraint.
“We have taken it as a challenge and included it in the 2020 budget and at any time we do it after the national sports festival it is still right.
“We are committed to grassroots sports development.
“ We are not just going to organise sports festival only but also school sports competitions to ensure that we discover more talents that will represent the state and the nation at large.
“Since the focus of this administration is the people, and the youth is the future, we are going to revive sports festival to discover talents and professionalise their talents for them so that talents are no wasted.
“We are passionate about this because most athletes that performed in years past were products of school sports festivals and competitions.
“We will support our young minds to realise their potential in sports,’’ he said.
