It’s our duty as government officials to discover young talents, Says: Orile Agege LG Chair

...as AFED hosts maiden Inter-Schools Sports Competition

The Local Government Chairman of Orile Agege Local Government Hon. Johnson Sunday Babatunde, has called on all local government councils across the country, to search out young talents in their various areas, because according to him, “it is our duty as government officials to do so.”

“Government,” he said, “has the capacity and wherewithal to research out these hidden talents, nurture them and guide them towards growth in order that when such talents are developed, they could then be properly guided to contribute to the overall development of the country.”

The local government council Chairman revealed this much at the maiden edition of the Inter Schools Sports Competition hosted by the Association For Formidable Educational Development (AFED) Orile Agege Chapter at the NYSC Camp football pitch in Agege area of Lagos.

The Chairman said he was most impressed by the high turnout of private and public schools for the competition and that he could see from the various sporting activities that took place that afternoon that Nigeria as a country is bristling with young talents, silently crying out to be nurtured and developed.

He promised to make available financial resources and “any other needed support” to encourage the talents he had spotted at the various sporting activities that took place at the event.”This is how people like Ilerika and Mary Onyali of those days emerged,” he added.

The Chairman of Orile Agege AFED Chapter, Mr. Taiwo Olasunkanmi, told newsmen at the sporting event, that the theme of the day was carefully selected that is, ‘making of a star.’

“Part of the reason we are hosting this competition is to search and discover the sporting stars amongst our children. Now that they are young, this is the best time to identify and pick them and to start training them in the right direction. You can see some of them have performed outstandingly in the schools relay races and so on.

“Again it is a good thing to bring these schools together like this because some of these schools cannot afford to host their school inter-house sports. So this helps them to have an annual inter-house sports without spending much and still engage the children in a competitive spirit,” Olasunkanmi said.

Present at the event were the District Co-ordinator of AFED,Mr. Obafemi Richard, Hon. Orji Kanu Emmanuel AFED President, Hon. Princess Omoye Ikero Vice President, Mrs. Dada Ifejola Esther BOT Member and former President, Hon. Orobiyi Olatunji Vice President and BOT Member, and Pastor Philip F. Akinmagbe BOT Chairman of AFED amongst others.