Grassroots planning key to Delta’s success in sports – Commissioner

Chike Ogeah, the Delta State Commissioner for Information, said on Monday that successes recorded by his state in sports was a result of planning and “catching of talents from the grassroots”.
Ogeah told the News Agency of Nigeria in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s administration placed emphasis on discovering and grooming of talents from the grassroots.
He said the governor initiated a policy aimed at appointing sports administrators who would be in a position to plan and implement in the short, medium and long term.
According to him, one of such policies led to the discovery of international athlete, Blessing Okagbare, who became the only “blessing” to the country.
He said: “Sports, you can see, go in tandem with our human capital development.
“She did what Nigeria has not been able to achieve in many years, since 1999.
“She did it alone in a country of 160 million people.
“She brought back two medals, but that is because the governor decided to develop sports.”
The commissioner also added that in a bid to achieve that in a sustainable manner, Uduaghan took a bill to the state House of Assembly, which would provide for a 10-year tenure for key sports administrators in the state.
Ogeah explained that the idea was to assemble people who would be able to plan very well.