Directors want Buhari to intervene in sports festival host

The Chairman of Nigerian Directors of Sports Forum, Mr. Tunde Kazeem, yesterday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in order to ensure that the National Sports Festival that has suffered series of postponement is held this year.

Kazeem, who was speaking at a one-day joint technical meeting of the National Youth Games, involving state directors of sports in Ilorin, expressed concerned over the inability of the country to host the annual National Sports Festival five years after the last edition held in Lagos State.

Kazeem, who is also the Kwara state Director of Sports, noted that the National Sports Festival had always been a veritable platform for discovering sports talents in the country.

The renowned administrator, who said the development has brought about decline in the standard of national sports development, stressed that it would be inappropriate to prepare for Commonwealth Games when the nation could not host its sports festival.

Also speaking, the Director, Grassroots Sports Development in the ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Dr. Demola Are, who represented the permanent secretary in the ministry, Abdulrazak Salau, said that the country may not be sure of podium success in international sporting arena without grassroots sports development.

The permanent secretary, who said that the sports directors’ meeting was expected to determine all technical issues relating to operations and smooth running of the games in line with international best practices, added that the national youth games served as an effective platform for talent identification and development as well as a level playing ground for young athletes aged 17 and under to achieve excellence in sports.