Edo 2020 NSF: El-Rufai doles out land to Team Kaduna medalists, emerges SWAN grand patron


 

Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state on Tuesday gave all Team Kaduna medallists at the recent Edo 2020 National Sports Festival a plot of land each, while assuring them of an unspecified amount of money. 
Team Kaduna won four golds, five silvers and 19 bronze medals in cricket, hockey, golf, weightlifting, taekwondo, dart, boxing, kick boxing, beach volleyball, handball, cycling, wrestling and chess at the Edo 2020 biennial games. 
The governor, who was presented with his plaque of appointment and decorated as the grand patron of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Kaduna state chapter, also promised an unspecified flat sum of money to other Team Kaduna participants at the Games who did not medal in Edo in a bid to motivate and spurred then to win more glory for the state. 


Speaking during a reception held for the Edo 2020 NSF athletes at Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna on Tuesday, the governor said companies operating in the stare will be approached to see how they can adopt the athletes, sponsor them and help improve their performance for more laurels and honours. 
“Sports is very important to Kaduna state and Nigeria because it is perhaps the only thing that unify Nigerians. I know we did not promise you money before you left for the Festival, but I want the Commissioner for Sports Development to come back with a proposal for monetary gift for the medallists and a flat rate for the other athletes who participated. I will direct the Commissioner to arrange for each and everyone of you to be allocated land. “Sports is a business, a source of income. We would get companies in Kaduna to endorse you and support you to move further in your chosen career from amateur to professional. We want our companies to as part of their corporate social responsibility invest in young men and women like you to make money from your talent,” he said.

The Commissioner for Sports Development, Prof. Kabiru Mato, in his remarks said the state would have won more laurels at the Festival, if not for the Governor’s mandate which tasked the ministry to develop sports and nurture talents in the state.
“To actualise the mandate, we stayed away from poaching and hiring of athletes, which others do,” he said.
Chairman of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Kaduna state chapter, Isaiah Benjamin, said the appointment of Governor el-Rufai as the grand patron of SWAN, was in recognition of his various efforts in developing sports, building sports infrastructures and developing sportsmen and women in the state, and to encourage him to do more to take the state further in its quest for glory.