The Adoption Campaign initiative of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, which was introduced by the sports minister Sunday Dare in Lagos on Monday appears to be gaining momentum with public and private individuals keying into the campaign.
The initiative, which has Adopt-an-Athlete, Adopt-a-Pitch and Adopt-a-Sports Center as the core of the campaign, has had private individuals and government officials signing up to be part of it.
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja, Dare expressed appreciation to the Governor of Kaduna State Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai for making a commitment to fix several important areas of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in the State.
He said, “Following our visit and inspection of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium and our meeting with Governor El-Rufai and the technical report sent to him from the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, identifying key areas that need quick renovation and upgrade, the governor has written through its Ministry of Sports, Kaduna conveying to the Ministry that his government would fix the following; the main bowl pitch, the training pitches A and B, the players dressing rooms 1 and 2, the players entrance to the pitch, the main bowl terraces and the cover terrace, the public address system, the TV compound and three number port cabin for the TV port”.
The Minister thanked the Governor of Kaduna State for this partnership and his commitment to Youth and Sports Development. “The governor has a bug for youth in sport and digital skills development and the facts are there for any one to check” Mr. Dare said.
The Minister assured that significant progress was being made to fix Nigeria’s sports infrastructure around the country. “We are gaining ground, he assured. “Abuja is secured, Kaduna is secured, Lagos is looking good and I think we are making progress and we are happy about it”, Mr. Dare concluded.
