The Abia State Government has directed the Local Organising Committee, LOC members for the 2nd Abia State Governor’s Secondary Schools Games, to respect the roles of sports administrators and to desist from in-house fighting among themselves.
The Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Nwaobilor Ananaba, gave the directive in Umuahia during a meeting with the local government LOC members for the 2nd Abia State Governor’s Secondary Schools Unity Games.
He stated that the secondary school competition, covering all 17 LGAs and designed to discover and develop future sporting champions for Abia State and Nigeria, will hold from 12th to 14th May 2025, while the state finals will take place in June.
The commissioner commended the various chairmen and their members for effectively carrying out their activities towards achieving the goals of the forthcoming Governor Alex Otti’s Secondary School Unity Games and charged them to consolidate on the gains recorded during the maiden edition.
Earlier, the Director of Sports, Obioma George, stated that the first edition of the competition yielded wonderful results, producing athletes such as Vitalis Eze, who won three gold medals in weightlifting at the recently held National Youth Games in Delta State, among others.
He noted that some lapses recorded during the previous edition would be corrected in the second edition.
Regarding the conflict between the LGA sports secretaries and HODs of Social Development at the LGAs, the Director of Sports reminded that the only officers in charge of sports at the LGAs are the Sports Secretaries, and therefore, HODs of Social Development should support them to succeed.