BY FRED EDOREH
Some of us had thought that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori would have regarded the hosting of the 8th National Youth Games in Delta State with some levity, being a cadet sports event, but that is not the case.
The composition of the Local Organizing Committee with such a star-studded team of experienced sports technocrats and professionals, with a blend of young persons who also have distinguished themselves in the sports firmament, simply speaks to how importantly he regards the national youth sports development programme, conceived and designed as the biggest platform for the discovery and grooming of sports talents for the nation.
The appointment of Evangelist Chief Solomon Ogba as Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, clearly reveals the mindset of the Governor about the Youth Games.
Chief Ogba comes with the strongest possible credentials for any sports administrator and manager, not just in Delta State and Nigeria, but across Africa.
From his service as Sole Administrator and two-time Delta State Commissioner for Sports, he is well known as the architect of the rich sporting prowess of Delta State. He attained elevation to the national level as two-time President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, by which he brought several innovations into Nigeria sports.
Currently returned as First Vice President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, he has been the Africa Area Representative of the International Athletics Union, IAU. He was also recently appointed a member of the Governance and Integrity Committee of the Commonwealth Games Federation which plays the critical role of ensuring the highest standards of international best practices and ethical conduct within the Commonwealth Sports Movement which coordinates over 71 countries in the world.
Appointing such a calibre of sports personality to chair the hosting of a youth game means just one thing: that the Governor believes that what is worth doing is worth doing well and, as such, wants the games to be delivered excellently – technically, administratively, managerially and socially, and there can be no doubt that Evangelist Ogba has all the requisite acumen to do so.
Sheriff also reinforced the LOC with the inclusion of the immediate past Chairman of the Delta State Sports Commission, Chief Tony Okowa, who will provide a connection of experience between the hosting of the last edition and the forthcoming one, also with hands-on knowledge and information on the current workings of Delta Sports.
Also very interesting is the inclusion of Chief Victor Onogagamue, the technical workman behind the sustained successes of Team Delta, for several years, from his days as Director in the Delta State Ministry of Sports and Director General of the Delta State Sports Commission.
Having also functioned for several tenures as Chairman of the National Committee of Directors of Sports and a highly reliable factor for the National Council of Sports,
he has been a pillar of experience in Nigeria sports for decades.
Even when he retired from service in 2019, he still remained relevant and was always called upon to support the programmes and activities of Team Delta, which not just always led to success in national competitions but saw Delta consistently producing over 60 percent of Nigeria’s most reliable elite athletes, especially in track and field events, at international competitions.
Also in the LOC, Onoriode Oborevwori may be coming as a quiet person, even though he had played for a number of top football league clubs in the country and has been involved in sports development and philanthropy for decades.
In one of my visits to him, even before his elder brother was elected Governor, I met him hosting the camp of a women football team and their coaches, complete with accommodation, feeding, transportation, for several months, in his private hotel in Osubi. He comes with such passion, selflessness and sacrifice for the development, growth and progress of our sports.
It is also fitting that the current Director General of the Delta State Sports Commission, Festus Owhojero, is not only a member, but also the Secretary of the LOC.
He was the former Auditor of the Commission and clearly has rich hands-on experience on the financial management of sports programmes and events.
The same is to be said about the inclusion of Chief Chinonnye Daphey-Aliyu, the President of the Nigeria Aquatic Federation, especially as an administrator who has distinguished himself by breaking new grounds in Nigeria aquatic sports.
Then, there is Harrison Ocholor, a seasoned sports broadcaster and Delta’s sports machine. We all know that sports cannot thrive without the input of media effective media and publicity.
Examine and assessing all the members of the LOC, it is clear that Oborevwori wants the best for Delta and he, accordingly, seeks and locates the best hands to do the delivery.
It is akin to how he not only initiated the Warri/Effurun metropolis infrastructural renewal projects, but went for Julius Berger, the best hand in civil construction in Nigeria, to do the delivery.
This attitude in governance demonstrates his faithfulness and commitment to seeking the best for our state and for the country, Nigeria.
