The Nasarawa State Government on Tuesday donated the sum of N15 million to both the Nasarawa United and Nasarawa Amazons, two state-owned football clubs based in Lafia.
Abdullahi Sule, the state governor, said in Lafia during a reception in honour of the clubs and their management boards, that the donation was for their recent successes in different cup competitions.
Sule said he was proud of the achievements of both clubs at the pre-2019/2020 season Ahlan Cup tournament and 2019 Aiteo Cup competition.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that both teams had won the competitions.
The governor explained that the N15 million was a little token of appreciation for the excellent performances of both teams.
“More reward and support will be given by the state government to motivate both teams to achieve more successes in future.’’
Sule also said N5 million from the N15 million was strictly for the players of each club while N2 million was for each of the club’s technical crew.
He added that N1 million was for the supporters club of both teams.
The governor said the clubs’ success would also ginger the state government into reassessing the sports sector.
“This will be with the view to come out with a new blueprint on sports activities in the state.
“The blueprint will help on how to support sports activities in the state so that sports can also be a means of livelihood for many youths in the state.
“This will certainly change the way we look at sports in our state,” he said.
Sule added that his administration would continue to support sports activities in the state.
“This is because they are aimed at harnessing and developing young talents to compete favourably with their counterparts at the national and international stages.
“Sports activities will go a long way to encourage our children not only to participate in physical fitness exercises, but also discover their potentials in one sports endeavour or the other.
“This is because the sports sector has become one of the major employers of labour in the country, where potentials of our youths are being discovered on a daily basis.
“This has gone a long way to empower youths to pursue careers in sports.
“So, one of our major priorities is to invest in this sector, considering that sports is one of the viable ways of reducing youth unemployment in the state,” he said.
In his address at the occasion, Bulus Amoyi, Permanent Secretary in Nasarawa State Ministry of Youths and Sports, thanked the state governor for hosting a reception for the teams.
“I assure that both teams, with the support of the state government, will continue to work hard in the upcoming seasons to win more tournaments for the state.
“Also, I wish to assure the governor that the Ministry of Youths and Sports Development will continue to do its best to ensure that our outings will bring more trophies to the state,” he said.
