• Govt donates equipment to schools
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, yesterday, reaffirmed his government’s commitment to sports development with the donation of equipment to 664 public secondary schools, five technical colleges, and five tertiary institutions in the state.
The facilities presented to the schools were procured by the Lagos State Sports Trust Fund (LSSTF) led by Olaposi Agunbiade. Sanwo-Olu, who was the special guest of honour, said that the gesture was part of his administration’s promise to students within the sports and educational sectors.
The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Bolaji Ogunlende, said: “Currently, Nigeria is laden with various kinds of instabilities such as political, ethnic, and religious violence, and there is no doubt that youths (mostly students) are now at the centre of these vices. This is because the love of sporting activities among the youths has been replaced by other endeavours like internet fraud, drug abuse, armed robbery, and some other vices.
“It is against this background that the Lagos State Sports Fund (LSSTF) is creating and uniting opportunities capable of diverting the attention of the youth from crimes by focusing on the development of school sports in Lagos State. We are here today to further demonstrate our understanding that the benefits of Sports in education are vast and are not just physical benefits. While many subjects at schools are taught primarily in the classroom, sports and physical education provide a great opportunity for students to head outside, get active, and focus on developing different skills.”
He pledged that his intervention would get to more schools across the state, adding: “The LSSTF understands the place of sports in the overall development of the youths and the multiplier effects on society at large.”
The governor charged the students to take ownership of the sports equipment by protecting them from vandalization, theft, and abuse.
Earlier, LSSTF’s Executive Secretary, Agunbiade thanked the governor for his support to the agency, while promising to unveil more laudable projects that would take the state to a more enviable position in sports.
Among the equipment given to the students were table tennis boards, boxing punching bags, basketball hoops, crickets helmets, taekwondo kicking pads, judo mats, swimming caps, badminton rackets, tennis rackets, tracksuits, soccer balls, and jerseys, among others.
