by crossriverwatch admin
Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, has restated his government’s commitment to hosting the best ever National Sports Festival, tagged the Centenary Games in November.
The governor will be in Lagos on Monday for a stakeholders meeting at the Whitbaker Hotel in Ikoyi where he will explain the importance of hosting the event and its benefits.
The state’s Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Honourable Patrick Ugbe, revealed that Imoke will be addressing Corporate Nigeria at the meeting.
“His Excellency will be talking to them about the Centenary Games and Cross River State. He will unveil the state’s plan for the games and how Corporate Nigeria can come in and partner them to deliver the best games ever in the history of the event in Nigeria,’ began Ugbe who spoke glowingly about the quality of infrastructure the state has put in place for Nigeria’s mini-Olympics.
“Cross River State has invested millions of Naira to provide world-class infrastructure for the games and His Excellency will be calling on Corporate Nigeria to take advantage of this and come on board. It is going to be a win-win situation for everybody that partners with the state,” he further said.
“The benefits accruable from hosting the event will be mutually beneficial in that both the Cross River State government and the sponsors that come on board will be helping to positively shape the future of our great country and what a better time for the rebirth of the country than now that we are celebrating 100 years of nationhood.
“The governor will let Corporate Nigeria know that whatever helping hand they lend via their partnership with the state, they will be helping to positively engage the youths through sports and drive them away from crimes and other social vices. They will be helping to give Nigeria a new image, build a new nation,” he further noted.
Ugbe revealed that the state has been playing a very strong role in ensuring youths are not only gainfully engaged but also economically empowered.
“Our sports development project is second to none in Nigeria. We have provided the platform for youths to positively dissipate their energies on productive ventures. Our focus has been on schools sports where we engage some of the best coaches in the world to train the youths while they are also going to school and the results have started proving we are on the right track,” concludes Ugbe whose state has won almost all the age-grade championships in Nigeria in the last three years.
follow us on twitter @crossriverwatch