…As competition’s dry run kicks off March 28

By Luminous Jannamike, Abuja

The President of Ratels Sports Development Foundation, Barr Paul Edeh, yesterday, described the forthcoming FCT School Sports Festival as a new frontier for overall sports development in the nation’s capital.

This is even as the Federal Capital Territory Administration’s Mandate Secretary for Education, Hon. Sani Dahir El-Katuzu, said the festival would provide the opportunity for talent discovery in sports.

They spoke at a stakeholders’ forum organised in Abuja ahead of the competition scheduled to hold in Abuja between March 27 and 30, 2023.

According to Edeh, the stakeholders forum was apt as owners of school were sensitised to the opportunities the festival will present for both the nation’s capital, RSDF, the participating schools and the students.

“The dry run of the FCT School Sports Festival is coming up on the 27th March through 30th of March, 2023 amongst selected schools,” he said.

On his part, El-Katuzu explained that the festival promises to be the biggest sporting event in the lives of students in the Territory.

He said, “Our hope is to see FCT school sports festival as a tourist attraction. I will want to encourage various departments and boards to give unreserved support to the success of the Festival and all the activities surrounding it.

“It’s obvious that there are numerous talents here and events like FCT School Sports Festival would provide the ample opportunity to discover these talents and train them to win laurels at National events like National Sports Festival and National Youth Games,” he said.

El-Katuzu, who was represented by Abdurazak Onivehu, the FCTA Director of Administration and Finance, stressed that a rebound in sporting activities in schools across the FCT and beyond was expected with the proposed competition.

In the same breath, the Director of School Sports in the FCT, Mallam Hashimu Adamu Ojah, said his department had placed high priority on Sports which led to the creation of school Sports division to oversee all sporting activities in the territory.

According to Mallam Ojah, the school sports division was tasked with organizing, supervising, promoting and producing athlates and organising workshop and seminars in schools in the FCT.