Attahiru felicitates with Kwarans on New Year, urge them to remain resolute to the growth of dream Kwara

 

The Special Adviser to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Sports and Youth Matters, Hon. Attahiru Ibrahim Abdulkadir has urged Nigerians to remain determined in their pursuit for a better and purposeful life

Attahiru, in a new year message released by his media aide noted that the year 2021 is not without hurdles just like 2020 as the country is still battling with COVID-19 pandemic; Delta variant and hydraheaded  viruse (omicron), still, it doesn't stop _aboki talakawa,_ from achieving the Kwara of our dream.

"Kwarans are grateful to God for giving us a reliable and committed leader who is gradually transforming our dear State of Harmony from civil service state to an economic hub of middle belt."

He however urged Kwarans to remain resolute as Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq led administration is achieving Kwara of our dream in all sectors, the results of His Excellency's concerted efforts are seriously yielding positive results.

End.

Sunday Dare and his many landmark achievements in Nigeria Youth and Sports Development

He is a man that will be remembered for his many legacies even while in office. He starts what others never thought of. In just under 3 years of his administration, Sports minister Sunday Dare has broken records and has given stakeholders too many to remember. 

His staff call him Mr Record Breaker, his admirers call him Mr Achiever, his colleagues call him the pacesetter, his bosses call him the silent achiever and some others just love to call him the BRAINBOX. 

Welcome to the World of Sunday Akin Dare. A man who has continued to thrive where others failed. 

Today, this reporter has taken time to highlight FIVE of Sunday Dare's outstanding achievements. These are five of the best. The very best. Read along. 

1. THE NATIONAL YOUTH CONFERENCE

For the very first time in the history of Nigeria youth and sports Ministry, there came a minister who has decided to create a platform for Nigeria youths to air their views, state their grievances and be heard by their leaders. On Wednesday in Abuja, Nigeria's vice president Yemi Osinbajo was special guest of honor as youths and delegates from all parts of the country converged on Abuja. The Vice president, used the ocassion of the conference to appeal to Nigeria youths to channel their energies into meaningful ventures and desist from negative vices like kidnapping, armed robbery, drug abuse and terrorism. He advised them to always see dialogue as a means of settling whatever grievances they have with government instead of indulging in violence. 

2. THE NATIONAL YOUTH INVESTMENT FUND

For the very first time in the history of the youth and sports Ministry, the federal government of Nigeria approved 75billon naira for the National Youth Investment Fund. That too, is one of the landmark achievements of Chief Sunday Dare. On assumption of office in 2019, Dare said his priority us to improve the lives of Nigeria youths and he took the bold step by coming up with an initiative that allows Nigeria youths to bring up creative ideas that government will support with small loans. That way, many have started doing small businesses instead of waiting for white collar jobs.

3. NYSC SALARY INCREMENT

Yes it happened after a proposal submitted by Sunday Dare got express approval from the presidency. Before his appointment as Nigerua sports minister, Youth corpers in the country were on a monthly take home of 19,800 naira but Sunday Dare came and changed their story. Presently, the take home pay for Nigeria youth corpers is 33,000 naira monthly. 

4. NIGERIA MADE HISTORY AT WORLD ATHLETICS UNDER 20 CHAMPIONSHIP

Nigeria’s U-20 track and field athletes made history at the biennial World Athletics U20 championships after finishing third on the overall medals table with an unprecedented haul of four gold and three bronze medals.

The best Nigeria had achieved on the medals table prior to the Kenya event, was her seventh-placed finish at the third edition of the championship in 1990 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where they won two gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

The four gold medals won at the championships in Nairobi, Kenya is the highest Nigeria has won, two more than the country has ever won in any edition of the championships.

Nigeria’s 4x400m mixed relay team began the unprecedented haul with its historic, championships record-setting performance (3:19.70CR) on the opening day of the championships.

5. INTRODUCTION OF THE ADOPT A SPORT OR AN ATHLETE INITIATIVE

4. The Sports Ministry under the leadership of Sunday Dare developed and implemented a Private Public Partnership model for sports, under the 'Adopt an Athlete' initiative about 20 athletes were adopted with some getting $10,000 and others $20,000.

Also about Two Hundred and Thirty Thousand Dollars($230,000) was raised for the men and women basketball teams under this initiative, the Ministry was also able to secure direct financial support for about 22 Nigerian athletes towards their training for the Olympics and the under 20 World championship. 

These are just a few of the many brilliant achievements of the ministry under Sunday Dare. Remember that it was under this administration that the National stadium Abuja and Lagos that were left moribund for years, came back to life. Dare got the private sector to begin work and as at last week, the Moshood Abiola stadium in Abuja is almost 96% completed and that of Lagos is undergoing steady progress. He also introduced  a special trust fund to help retired Nigeria sports men and women. 

In the years to come, the story of Nigeria youth and sports development when told, will not be complete without a mention of this Oyo state born administrator who came, saw and has conquered where his predecessors failed.

NYCN Chairman's Cup: Amb. Ogohi reiterates commitment to grassroots sports development

 

... As Newlayout whitewashed Peace Community 

Chairman of Kogi State National Youth Council of Nigeria,  Ambassador Usman Ogohi has reiterate his commitment towards the growth of grassroots sports development in the state.

Amb. Ogohi in his chat with members of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, Kogi State Chapter during the opening kickoff of Amb. Usman Ogohi football tournament at Aneibo field, Gadumo in Lokoja disclosed that the tournament is a beginning of several sports initiative programmes to come.

According to him, the best way of harnessing raw sports talent for the state and the country is to invest heavily into grassroots sports with the aim of catching them young and helping those making efforts on their own to find their feat. 

Ogohi further disclosed that the competition which comprises of eight teams bottling for the grand price is also targeted at engaging youth in the community to distract them and sensitize them from all forms of Anti Social vices. 

Ogohi while appreciating the passion and commitment of Lokoja based street football teams and others from the 21 Local Government Areas of the State, encouraged them to keep believing in themselves as opportunities will come knocking at their doors sooner than expected. 

He further reiterate his commitment towards promoting sports and other sector that would help Kogi youth grow and be comfortable with life.

kick starting the opening match, Newlayout Football Club whitewashed, thrashed her opponent Peace Community by 5 goals to nill, with three of the goals scored in the first half of the game and two in the other half.

Speaking to members of Kogi SWAN after the opening match, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Comrade Femi Abiodun called on youths to shun Cultism and other vices which according to him has become one of the greatest negative bane in the society. 

He appealed to stakeholders in the sports sector and corporate organizations in the state to support the National Youth Council in the State so as to enable them sustain the tournament annually and extended to other committees in the state capital and across the LG.

Nigeria at 61: Only with deliberate, scalable investment in our youth can Nigeria become greater - Sunday Dare

 

Today, Friday, October 1, 2021, as Nigeria clocks 61 years of independence, It has been 61 years of remarkable journey characterised by challenges, struggles and triumphs.

As the Minister of Youth and Sports Development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I pledge my loyalty to Nigeria and look to her future with hope and optimism.

As a Ministry, we have adopted a number of programmes specially designed to uplift our youth, and the good news is that these programmes are already yielding positive results.

Nigeria's greatest natural resource is her youth. Only with deliberate, scalable investment in our youth can Nigeria become greater than she is today.

Our DEEL initiative which focuses on Digital Literacy and Skills Acquisition, Entrepreneurship, Employability and Leadership has led to some crucial breakthrough collaborations and partnerships with some technological giants and leading E-Commerce solutions platforms. These partnerships are guaranteed to get at least 200,000 youth trained and placed in Entrepreneurship by 2023. The Ministry’s Training into Enterprise continues to deliver results across the country. We appreciate many other Ministries, Departments and Agencies who also contribute to the training and empowerment of the youth in Nigeria. 

A lot of our youth are  being empowered through the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund(NYIF). Over 5,225 have benefited and recently over 20,000’have been screened and shortlisted for the final stage of training and funds disbursement. 

In the area of sports development, youth oriented programmes like the 'Adopt-an-Athlete' and 'Talent Hunt Program initiatives have been central to all our activities. These initiatives have led to podium finishes at the recent Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics Games, as well as the World U-20 Athletics Championships in Nairobi, Kenya with Nigeria hauling 19 medals from these competitions. Just recently, the Nigeria women basket ball team, D’Tigress won the Afro Basketball Gold for the 3rd consecutive time making them the best women basketball team in Africa. 

Many young talents in all sports have been identified, a lot more will be identified. These talents will be adopted, harnessed, supported, financed and exposed to the best facilities, coaching and training programmes possible so they can become world beaters in the near future.

As a Ministry, we have also embarked on an aggressive drive to upgrade our sporting facilities so that our sports men and women can utilise them optimally.

The national stadia in Lagos and Abuja have had the football pitches of their mainbowls regrassed; because we know that great talents can only be birthed in an enabling environment and our infrastructure is key to creating it.

In addition, towards ensuring that sports enthusiasts at the grassroots have access to quality sporting facilities, the football pitch of the Daura Township Stadium in Daura, Katsina State has been completely rehabilitated and boasts of having one of the most modern synthetic AstroTurf pitches in Nigeria.

The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development also ensured the classification of sports as a business and not mere recreation.

We believe more glorious years are ahead for the Nigerian youth in all spheres of their endeavours.

Happy 61st independence anniversary Nigeria!

Nigerian government raises investment in youth to boost economy

The Federal Government has reassured that it will continue to harness youth potentials in the country with a view to enhancing sustainable economic growth and development.

The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Akin Dare disclosed this  in Lagos at the closing ceremony of the six-week training on Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), organised by the Ministry across the 36 States of the Federation, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

He said deliberate and strategic investment in young people is required for the high percentage of the youth population in the country to become a demographic dividend.

“When the youth are positively engaged, there will be a reduction in the indices of crime and delinquency, which are factors that are inimical to national development efforts”, Dare said.

He stated that the approach of the Ministry has been the inclusion of youth employment as a priority segment of the National Youth Policy (NYP) for which a framework for implementation has been provided in the Nigerian Youth Employment Plan (NYEP), adding that the agenda which will be launched in the next few weeks, will deliver a comprehensive approach to youth employment interventions through multi sector collaborations, that emphasize on the Four Es: Employability, Entrepreneurship Development, Employment Creation and Equal Opportunity.

“This framework will ensure the inclusion of partners across sectors and will create a robust partnership base through my Ministry that will ensure wider reach of youth employment programmes across the country. With new challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, innovative solutions and a robust partnership are required to support youth participation in the process of rebuilding through deliberate and strategic investment that will lead to sustainable economic growth and transformation”, the Minister added.

According to him, the programme is an expression of the priority focus of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration which is to among other things ensure “job creation for youth and to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years”.

He therefore called on all Nigerian youth to take up the challenge for self-development that will support their inclusion in nation building, stating further that youth have the potentials, talents and energy for skills development and other opportunities that will give them leverage in the global economy.

Mr. Dare assured further that the present Administration is committed to the task of youth development and will continue to provide an enabling environment and innovative solutions to challenges of youth in the country.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Nebeolisa Anako while distributing starter packs and other empowerment tools to the participants at the closing ceremony in Abuja, stated that the Ministry will continue to ensure full implementation of the programmes and projects of the Federal Government in line with the policy thrust of the present Administration.

He explained that the Ministry will continue to monitor their progress periodically to provide guidance and ensure compliance in line with the objectives of the programme.

Mr. Anako who applauded the Federal Government on its various interventions on youth empowerment, particularly the DEEL initiative which was conceived and launched by the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare, said that the programme was designed to ensure a coordinated mechanism that will employ strategies to enhance the competitive aged of Nigerian youth with a focus on Digital Skills, Employability, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Mentoring.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Director, Enterprise Development and Promotion Department of the Ministry, Mr. Gbenga Momoh  assured that participants will put the skills they acquired during the training into practice for the purpose of self-development so as to enhance economic growth.