PremiumTimes: How Lagos Govt’s ‘Administrative Lapses’ Tarnished Hopes of Young Athletes

Administrative lapses by the Lagos State government has frustrated the sporting ambitions of dozens of young athletes and their coaches despite months of preparation.

Few weeks after the third edition of the National Youth Games, which held from September 7 to 17, many of the Lagos athletes and their coaches who were denied the opportunity of being part of the event are still lamenting the situation.

After months of intense preparations, the Lagos athletes were victorious at the South-west elimination series and were primed for the main national sporting spectacle in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. But they received a bombshell at the point of departure as they were told that due to ‘administrative lapses’, Governor Akinwumi Ambode had not approved funds for the participation of the state’s contingent at the event.

Aside from disrupting their movement up the ladder, the situation may have put paid to the ambition of some athletes as the National Youth Games is meant to open doors for the younger athletes to showcase their talents and expose their potentials.

“We slept on the basketball court at Rove Park for two nights hoping that they will find a way around it, but it all ended in disappointment,” one of the embittered coaches told PREMIUM TIMES after requesting not to be identified.

“We learnt that the Special Assistant that was supposed to take the file to the governor locked it up in his office and travelled to London to see his son, while jeopardising the future other children.”

As explained by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, one of the objectives of the youth games is to be a platform for the discovery of new talents to be nurtured for future competitions.

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