Oyo State Sports Commissioner, Seun Fakorede has congratulated team Oyo for breaking their own record at the just concluded National Sports Festival in Edo State.
Oyo state finished 6th overall with a total of 103 medals; 30 gold, 31 silver and 42 bronze medals breaking their 2018 record when they won just 16 Gold.
The Commissioner while speaking on a radio programme on Friday morning attributed their success to government substantial investment in the sport sector .
He added that the motivation of athletes also contributed to the contingent’s improvement at the event.
“The difference is the welfare for the people. Before you make people touch the work, first of all touch their heart.”
“The difference between that team and the team that represented us now is just motivation”
“Most of these people when they see that there is an attention to a particular place, the result is always different. Before now, we cannot say that Sport Enjoyed the kind of attention it enjoys today in the state.”
“Just like I said earlier, the result is actually very impressive. In 2018 in Abuja, we had just only 16 Gold Medals and this time it is almost double the number of Gold medals we had. I will tell you something, most of the people that were at Abuja 2018, a good number of them are still the one who represented us at the just concluded Festival.”
“Ever since the outset of this administration, you’ll see that a lot of attention has been given to the youths, especially to sports development in the state. So it is quite expected we’ll have this kind of result everywhere.”
“I was personally with them, cheering them up at the beginning of the festival and then I told them, I conveyed the message of His Excellency to them that they should do us proud.”
“When you pay attention to people , they will definitely deliver the kind of result you want.”
Fakorede also gave a general assessment of the just concluded National Sports Festival in Edo state, stating that the national Sports Festival is a gathering which showcases the abundance of raw talent available in Nigeria.
He also opined that anybody who has experienced the sports Festival before would want to promote and support the events.
In his own appraisal of general athlete conduct during the Festival, he noted that the athletes had been very professional throughout the games, further hinting that Nigerian sport is in safe hands.
“I was there personally and then I saw how our athletes did and the …you know, not even the Oyo state athletes or contingents, other people too. I see that this is actually one of the beautiful ways to engage our youths and the performance is quite impressive”
The sports commissioner stated that the contingent that represented the state at the Edo Sports Festival was back in Oyo State.
Fakorede also hinted that the contingent that represented Oyo State at the Edo Sports festival will be rewarded for their exploits soon.
