Aniocha North Sports Development: A Difficult Task That Pays Unending Dividends ––Oseme

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he sports personality profile in this edition, focuses on the exploit being made by the leaders of thought in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State where the Chairman, Hon. Chukwugozie Oseme, has devoted his time and energy to build a sustainable system that will overtime, be self-energizing as a result of the con­stant derivable benefits that will be regularly reproduced.

The Chairman, with an open heart and spirit, welcomed the unit to his place and expressed gratitude to God for the peaceful disposition of the people of Aniocha North who are very hard working despite the lack of much financially-inclined establishments or organizations.

To him, it is not a very easy task to lead the people whose needs are not easily met because the wherewithall is far fetched from reach. But much is being done in the area of sports development as lack of inspiring spirit would demean the possibility of desired progress whether the facilities are there or not. “For where there is a will, there is a way” he asserted.

Speaking on the concept of sports development, he ob­served that the level of sports development in the country sports wise was modest,but this does not rule out the fact that efforts are being made to see that there is pronounced progress in sports as one of the leading factors for youths in the local government.

To this end, he acknowledged that while all that glitters may not be gold, some items that glitter are indeed gold and the exploit in his area is yielding results and positive ones for that matter.

“The level of sports development in my Local Govern­ment Area has been improving by the day as a result of the people’s consciousness of what they stand to benefit from such activities.

“Several factors have enhanced sports development , including awareness of numerous benefits that are derived from active participation. You will observe that beyond participating to win trophies and financial benefits in some cases, people are now adequately informed on the other benefits of healthy living which is most often enhanced by exercising the body from time to time. So, they do not engage in sports for the prizes alone but to also keep fit, which is the most rewarding benefit any individual can get in sports”. ‘This is indeed the most valuable part of sports contribution to humanity’, he said.

Beside the health advantages , he said, Aniocha North had been performing creditably in sports competitions in the state be it School sports or inter local government sports competitions because they have been very activities in different games at different times.

“If you look at the sports competition records in the state’s activities both for the Local government and Schools Sports, you will eventually discover that the people from my area are doing fairly because they are not the most promi­nent ones but they are also among the first 10 teams in most cases. Those in School sports know that these pupils and students are improving on their records and when the level of improvement is constantly progressing, then you can infer that it is on the progressive tilt.

The world today, does not only need you to be in assured core lucrative professions or businesses to make name or be financially strong and of great fame; rather, it is being diligent in the chosen disciplines to the point of going beyond making a living out of it but becoming a source of encouragement to others who move around you.

Young talents who are making exploits in sports may not be so vast academically but many are obviously deluded to see those who by their understanding or feelings are not good enough, doing very well in other fields and sports is one of such very often areas where they excel. It helps to teach the world that the issue of intelligence is relative in every sense of it; as young talents who are making exploits in sports may not be so forceful in their academic drive but they have become household names in their professions as footballers, basketball players, golf players, distant race or fast sprinters in the likes of Usain Bolt, Ben Johnson.

The Okochas, Kanus and Taribos may not have graduated from Cambridge or Harvard University but that does not make them of less value because they met the world’s needs and are living up to their ratings; they have become house­hold names in soccer expeditions. Just like others who have become very much known due to their participation in one sport or the other. Nduka Odizor became popular because of tennis, Stephen Keshi was the second African who won the African Cup of Nations both as player and after as a coach; Blessing Okagbare is still doing well in sprint as an athlete and many others of their kinds who became notable persons in the society because of their exploits in sports.”

But the council Chairman believes that these dreams would not be achieved if the mechanism to motivate the people into such enduring ventures are not in place, hence the Council has proposed to establish a sports centre where all sports activities will be constantly practiced; using professionals in the various fields to run the affairs in order to produce good results.

“It is only when you have such a sports centre in a central­ized place, where people with different games’ interests can come together and participate in their various events, that you will be able to develop them faster. So, it is our interest to develop a sports centre in any of the communities (preferably the Local Government Headquarters) where people will have events of interest being practiced and we will ensure that fa­cilities in these different sports are put in place so that we will achieve the aim of establishing such a centre. It is, therefore, not exactly the way many would want to believe because we are very well informed of all the numerous benefits that are derivable from the development of youths in one sport or the other”, he emphasized.

Oseme explained that it is a matter of time as the essence was to help the younger generation develop over time. But there would be read to equip such a centre with facilities to enable participants perfect their skills in any of the chosen games. He, however, explained that the centre had not come on board because of some challenges principal among which is the financial concerns that will help making the centre meet with the desired goals.

His words, “Anyhow you look at it, sports development cannot be very effective if there is no financial provisions for the facilities to be made available as and when needed and this local government is predominantly agro-based where you have peasant farmers who do not seem to understand why you are not able to meet their basic requirements, despite the provisions from the Federal Government and there are no industries that will attract much funds to the area. Thus, this made the Council to fall back mainly on the allocations, which, again, are already assigned for basic roles, including the payment of monthly wages for both Council and primary school workers after which, there is little or nothing left for the desired projects to be executed and extra efforts are put in place to maintain some facilities like link roads from one community to another and any other one that will be of ut­most need to the people”.

With all these challenges, the council is barely able to sur­vive and they need funds to get sports programming started.

It is lack of funds that has kept many programmes unat­tended to and this, he said, accounts for their inability to make proper use of their ideas that would make then the best in sports across the state. Oseme said the Council does not count on individuals to get things done; Aniocha North Local Government is actually blessed with many well-to-do people that would have supported in the provision of some of the needs but they are mostly in Diaspora and reaching them can be herculean.

The summit will be well organized to enable it yield the desired positive results in terms of establishing organizations and industries in the council areas that will not only make them financially viable but also as source of relief to the high level of unemployment in the area.

With the entire area made up of few farmers, there is noth­ing to serve as a means of income but if there are industries and organizations through which council can generate rev­enues, visions and goals automatically become attainable and there will be more support for sports development.

“You will agree with me that sports engagement needs a lot of funds to get it well established and attractive; if there is no such money, the facilities, no matter how small, would not be made available and when the means of making these facilities are not in your possession, it will be difficult to manage and this is the problem facing the council. We are not as viable as we desire sports wise, due to lack of capital.

“It is our hope therefore, that we are able to get major sources of income and we will enhance the sports horizon in the area.

“Sports blossoms when the economy is in good state but when it turns out sour, the reverse is always the case which is not the delight of any well leader because every leader wants to leave a landmark to show that he or she passed there at a particular time and nobody wants to go without a good history as your history can only be told publicly by your performance while on duty in a particular position”. Oseme explained.

He explained that the school sports in the council area had been equally progressive as have been seen over the years as he added that the instruction of the state govern­ment that all school must do their annual inter house sports competition every year was being fully adhered to in the area, and the results are speaking boldly.

Oseme noted that the various schools were doing it and talents were being discovered just as it is in other events. The school sports are now developing rapidly under the current administration of the state government, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa because he has a foresight that those who would not meet up with the academic task could be able to make exploit in another areas and many of such students are actually doing well in sports.

He said that outside inter House sports competitions, there are other sports activities in the school system that the council has not been quiet about.

“The school sports festival being organized by the state government is an avenue to develop students and the local government authority has been supportive in ensuring that the schools in the area participate and, by the grace of God, they are not performing poorly since the game started”.

He also spoke on the Principals’ and Headmasters’ cups that had been brought back and introduced respectively by the present governor in his first tenure and the effort had eventually taken over the school sports with high prizes for victorious schools as well as best players in different depart­ments, noting that he has been encouraging the students from the area to play their best at every given time as that was the only way they will get it right all the time.

He stated that the facilities for proper development might not be adequate at the moment, the schools were putting in their concerted effort to see that all hands were on deck for them to excel and the council was not ignorant of the efforts but would be adequately addressed in a short while going by the programming of priorities in the council.

The Chairman asserted the need to develop females in sports ‘because there has been much concentration on the male players.’ Oseme sees it as one of his main goals as he was very much aware of women who had done very well in sports.

“Across all sport events, these women doing very well and our ladies can be developed in it so that they develop more interest and possibly excel in such sports.

“We should have female football teams in the various communities such that while men are playing at the end of every year, women should also play theirs either at the same period in a well organized schedule that will make them add beauty to the season and the communities”, he said.

On the effort of Prince Ned Nwoko contributing to sports development, Oseme expressed delight in the will power and might Ned Nwoko had expressed in sports development by building a sports university that would kick off very soon as well as the Ned Nwoko Golf Tournament that had now been done consecutively for about three or four editions.

“It is most encouraging to have somebody like Ned Nwoko who is ever willing to develop our youths and is now building a sports university that will not only provide education and enlightenment to the people but will also provide job opportunities for youths and adults, including fresh graduates.

“Prince Ned Nwoko’s effort towards humanity is un­quantifiable from every angle of his contributions. He is not thinking of what he will gain as a person but what will help the people around him and the world over. “Ned is the person that stands out on an issue that he is convinced is right and would not bend irrespective of the number of persons or forces that might object to his views. His contribution to the well being of youths is immense and I am happy that he is seriously into sports development and the Golf course at his home town in Idumuje-Ugboko has become a cause for people to learn details about the game of golf because it is generally seen as the game of the wealthy and not for low income earners but he has demystified it by bringing it down to the level where youths and even those who can’t ordinarily afford the clubs are now developing interest and are indeed playing with provided facilities and this has boosted the development needed in the games” the chairman highlighted.

Culled from The Pointer