*Offers insights into Senator Enoh’s Sports Development Plans
Hon. Anthony Adeyinka Adeboye, who is newly appointed as Special Assistant on Grassroots Sports to the Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, has stated that a football development plan, Football House is coming to Kwara state.
The Oro-born administrator said that stakeholders in the nation’s sports family, in collaboration with the Chairman of Kwara United Football Club, Kumbi Titiloye, and other great sons of Kwara are planning a Football Academy in the state.
“It is going to be the biggest in Nigeria, if not Africa, and we already have five hectares of land alotted to it in Oro, my birth place.
“Kumbi, other great sons of Kwara and I are already working on it and in a few months you will start seeing things,” he explained to team of journalists in Asaba, Delta State where he accompanied his Principal, Senator Enoh, for the ongoing 7th National Youths Games (NYG).
Hon. Adeboye, a seasoned administrator in diverse fields but chiefly in the areas of sports development further explained the new policy of the present administration was to see how the private sector can be encouraged to do more in growing sports at the grassroots especially from their place of birth.
Earlier in Asaba, the Minister hinted that he will be working more on seamless transition between the two sub-sectors of sports viz: grassroots to elite sports.
“What we are going to do is that we are going to replecate what we have done in Lagos in Kwara State.
“I am the Senior Special Assistant to the Minister on Grassroots Sports Development and I can assure you that our pilot initiative on sports development will start from Kwara state.
“Let me also assure you that we are going to reach all nooks and crannies in Kwara, and as soon as I get back to Abuja, I am going to table this before the Minister.
He explained that Lagos demontrates how private sector can help in sports development.
“Lagos has been known as the sporting hub of the country. We want Kwara to be known too as a sporting center. We are making attempts at bringing everybody into it.
“We have great Kwara sons and daughters in Lagos. We are going to bring them back to develop our state. The younger generation has to wake up. It is high time to educate the younger generation as well. We particularly need to bring in the business people to help develope sports. Baba Ijebu is not from Lagos, he is from Ogun state, but he invested a lot in Lagos state in the areas of sports.
“Same for Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Dangote, BUA all are not originally from Lagos but did a lot for sports in Lagos. We want to start encouraging these sports loving philanthropists to give back to the grassroots as well.
“A lot of people think that only government can sponsor sports successfully but that is not true. A lot still can be done by the private sector and that is what the Minister will be fully exploiting in the days ahead,” he said.
