Osun YSFON Inaugurates Executive Committee, Charges FG to Invest in Sporting Activities

By Abdulrofiu Agboola

The Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON), Osun state Chapter has called on the Federal Government to invest massively in sports as panacea to rescue the country out of recession.

YSFON charged government at all levels to foster synergy with relevant stakeholders in the sports sector in order to complement their efforts in maximising the untapped potentials in the sector.

The chairman of the Executive Committee of the Osun state chapter of the YSFON, Otunba Waliyu Adebayo gave the charge in his inaugural speech of the 10-man YSFON state committee.

Reacting on the myriads of socio-economic challenges ravaging the country, the proprietor of Rovet Football Club, Iwo, said in view of the current recession in the nation’s economy, hence, governments must redouble efforts and focus more on youth education, sports and infrastructural development.

Adebayo, who lamented on the poor management of the sports sector in the country, said governments must henceforth device plans that who eliminate mediocrity and install sanity, discipline and professionalism.

He said sports have the capacity to take the country out of recession if properly managed and tailored to the path of growth and development.

The YSFON chairman in Osun pointed out that if countries like Brazil, France, Angentina among others could survive their economies through sports, thus, Nigerian government must channel resources towards improving capacity that would develop the sector and make sports the mainstay of the nation’s economy

Adebayo, who described grassroots as veritable platform for discovering hidden talents called on Sports Managers across the country to develop comprehensive youth identification and enlistment programmes that would help provide the needed athletes for the nation’s sports competitions.

According to him, many sports loving Nigerian youths are unable to engage themselves in sporting activities of their choice due to lack of facilities and sporting aids.

“It is painful that most private and public schools in the country lack the facilities and personnel to introduce the youth to sports, while many of the public and private schools had lost their sports pitches to the so called development projects.

“All these must be squarely tackled by all and sundry if we are sincere about our resolves to diversify the nation’s economy by revamping non-oil sectors.

“There must be a revisit of the period where inter-schools; intra-state, inter-states football and principal cups competitions were reigning across the country.

“This glory should be resuscitated to discover and nurture new stars for the national teams while efforts should be geared towards reviving the interest and sponsorship of competitions by corporate organizations.

The chairman YSFON in Osun therefore urged government at all levels to harness the God-given potentials endowed with the nation to enhance greater productivity and standard of living among Nigerians.