The Permanent Secretary of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Olusade Adesola, said the Administration will continue to support sports development in schools for the mental and kinetic development of students.
Adesola made the commitment when the FCTA Director of Department of Schools Sports, Adamu Hashimu, presented the winners of the 23rd edition of Nestle Milo Secondary School Basketball Championship to him in Abuja.
The male team of Government Secondary School Karu, FCT, won the male category of the competition, while the female team of the same school came second in the female category.
The Permanent Secretary, who congratulated the team for the laudable feat, added that the FCTA would continue to support the youths to develop their skills in sports. He said that sport was one of the activities highly recognised for its significant contribution to the development of children, particularly while in school.
“Sport is not just a play, it comes with a lot of reward, great fame and adds meaning to life,” Adesola said.
“This adds to the credence that in FCT, we do not only teach but we develop the kinetic mental capacity of children to grow and achieve their full potential. We look forward to seeing many of you in the national team, because basketball is a very big business.”
The permanent secretary said that the FCTA would do everything possible for the boys to participate at the World School Basketball Championship in China at the end of the year. Adesola urged the team to come back with the winning medal.
Earlier, Hashimu explained that both the male and female teams of GSS Karu emerged champions out of the 35 secondary schools that participated in the competition at the FCT level. He added that the teams represented the FCT in the Central Conference held at the National Stadium in Abuja, where 9 secondary schools in Nigeria participated.
He said that during the central conference, the boys team lost the finals to a school in Niger while the girls team won the central conference and qualified to participate at the National Championship.
“The boys team went to the national finals as the best losers in the male category and won the championship while the girls’ team came second in the female category,” Hashimu said.
“For the first position, the boys were rewarded with N1 million, a trophy, shoes for each of the players and a medal. The female team were also rewarded with N750,000, a trophy, shoes for each of the players, and a medal.” he said.
On his part, the President of the Ratels Sport Development Foundation Paul Edeh, pledged a donation of N500,000 to improve basketball infrastructure in the school.
