The ongoing 20th National Sports Festival Benin, Edo State, has received a huge financial boost with a princely donation of N40m by Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello in support of the games.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development who disclosed this yesterday as the youth based Nigerian Olympic Games got underway, expressed appreciation to the youth loving Governor and the state for supporting the fiesta.
The Ministry said the fund will go a long way in uplifting the youth who are the larger participants at the National Sports Festival as it will commit the fund to providing feeding, transportation and ancillary support.
The Ministry expressed the belief that other state governors will emulate Governor Yahya Bello in supporting the National Sports Festival as a show of their support for the youth by promoting the fiesta that helps to build their careers in sports.
Over 65% of the athletes are youth for whom the fiesta, dubbed Nigeria’s Olympics, is a great opportunity to hone their skills and possibly secure tickets to the Tokyo Olympics.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, had personally called to thank Gov. Yahaya Bello for coming through quickly in support of the Nigerian Youth. “ The Governor’s support is timely and useful and I thank him on behalf of the youth who will be participating in the 20th National Sports Festival in Edo”.