Charles Ogundiya 
The 7th edition of the National Youth Games (NYG) takes centre stage today in Asaba, Delta State providing a fresh platform for the emergence of fresh future stars. According to reports 5,742 athletes, have been registered to be part of the 10-day event with almost all sports available.
The NYG is a brainchild of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, allowing athletes U-15 to come together with the sole aim of preparing them for the future.
It is a multi-sporting event organised by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Sports Development for athletes from the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria.
Speaking recently, the Chairman of Delta Sports Commission, Tonobok Okowa, said the state would stage the best-ever event in the history of the NYG with the Games expected to take place between September 20 and 30.
Okowa said the Delta State government is ready to give the youths a befitting sports festival.
In order to curb age cheating, the Federal Ministry of Sports Development adopted a National Identification Number (NIN) verification policy for participating athletes at the Games.
Team Delta has won virtually all editions of the NYG since the competition came into existence in 2013 in Abuja. The 2023 edition will have 34 scoring events.
Recently, a meeting on the Games took place, and among the key points reached was that all states should get insurance coverage for athletes and officials coming for the tournament.
It was emphasised that all states will provide evidence of payment for participation and Insurance policy for athletes and officials as it will be used as necessary clearance into the Games Village.
Also indicated was that screening of athletes will be carried out only once after a two-day grace of arrival at Games Village, just as it warned that any state that did not take part in the screening will be disqualified.
To ensure that only clean athletes take part in the Games, the authorities also warned that doping control would be enforced as athletes may be tested at random during the Games. The last five editions of the NYG were held in Ilorin, Kwara State, with Team Delta winning all.
According to the Project Manager, Media, Publicity and Mobilisation of the Local Organizing Committee, Moses Etu, the team does not want to leave any stone unturned in delivering another title triumph.
Some of the states going for the Games already working hard to upstage Delta at their home ground.
Oyo State Government yesterday announced a total number of 167 athletes heading to Asaba with the newly appointed Commissioner for Sports, Wasilat Adegoke, charging the athletes to go for the utmost prize.
Adegoke said that the Games is part of the national strategic plan to meaningfully engage Nigerian youths, create career paths for them in sports, take them away from social vices and ultimately create a robust pool of young talents that can be nurtured for outstanding performances at international competitions.
She remarked that the Oyo State Team will participate in 20 sports, namely: Athletics, Traditional Sports, Badminton, Basketball, Beach volleyball, Boxing, Canoeing, Chess, Cricket, Cycling, Golf, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Karate, Scrabble, Squash, Swimming, Taekwondo, Tennis, Volleyball, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
In Lafia, Nasarawa State capital, the team are planning to move down to Asaba on Wednesday ahead of the opening ceremony with the aim of dethroning Delta State.
In Lagos, the athletes have been in camp for so long and after finishing the last edition second on the log, the target this time around will be the ultimate prize, however, Team Delta still remain the team to beat.
In a related development, Zamfara State will not be attending the Games in Asaba.
According to a report on www.aclsports.com, the Zamfara State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Tasi’u Musa Shinkafi, made an announcement of the state not attending in Gusau recently.
A badminton player, Muktar Usman, however, appealed to the state government to reconsider their position on the nonappearance at the NYG.
Usman said the various athletes in individual sports had been preparing hard for the NYG before the announcement of the commissioner.
“The players were not happy when they discovered that Zamfara State did not register for the Games in Delta State,” he said.
“This would have afforded us the opportunity to make national teams in various sports. Sports can be used to reduce the social vices in the state, especially banditry among the youth.
“On behalf of other athletes, I am appealing to the Director of Sports, Isiyaka Magaji Shameel to send a Save Our Soul (SOS) letter to His Excellency, Governor Dauda Lawal to come to our rescue in sports.
“I believe with the strong influence of the Zamfara State Directorate of Sports Development, Lawal Musa, and other relevant stakeholders, we can still get registered.”
Zamfara State finished last with zero medals at the 6th edition of the National Youth Games held in Ilorin.
The Games already produced several athletes for the country with three of the stars of the Games, Faith Okwose, Justina Eyakpobeyan and Imaobong Nse-Uko, recently participating at the 2023 World Athletics Championship in Budapest, Hungary.
