A group, under the auspices of the Grassroots Movement for Tinubu, Ondo State, has unveiled a sports festival for President Bola Tinubu in Ondo town, Ondo State, on Thursday.
Speaking at the unveiling of the sports festival tagged ‘Tinubu Sports Festival’ at Adeyemi University of Education Sports Arena, in Ondo, the director-general of the GMT, Saka Yusuf-Ogunleye, said the festival was aimed at strengthening grassroots sports across the state.
Yusuf-Ogunleye, who was a former Commissioner for Sports in the state, explained that the festival would afford residents of the state to be duly informed about President Bola Tinubu’s reforms and also to discover talents at the grassroots who could do the nation proud in the sports sector.
According to him, the sports festival would be held in five zones across the state, while young men and women had registered to participate.
The former sports commissioner emphasised that the sportsmen and women were no longer being rewarded with a mere handshake but with national honour and other largesse, hence the winners of the sports festival would be rewarded.
He also pointed out that sports had gone beyond mere entertainment, saying, “Sport has gone beyond entertainment. Sport today has become a business where talent can be discovered and where people can be engaged.
“So apart from using it to mobilise for Asiwaju, it will engage our youths, you take them out of the streets, they become useful and they make a life out of sport.”
According to DG, the sports for participation in the festival included: football, Ayo olopon, athletics, wrestling, handball, basketball, handball, boxing, table tennis, tennis, among others.
He commended the Minister of Interior, Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, for sponsoring the initiative by ensuring that the dreams of young talents come true.
Also speaking, the Director General of GMT in Ogun State, Tola Banjo, described the sports festival as historic.
He lauded the Interior Minister as a pride to the nation, saying the minister, through the initiative, was giving back to the community for humanity’s sake.
