Charles Ogundiya 
The main reason for establishing the National Youth Games was to identify and develop young talents for the future. The 2024 NYG was no different, with many states coming to Asaba, Delta State to compete for the honour.
There are several youngsters winning honour for different states ranging from 13-year-old Munyal Kwairanga Simon, who was the only athlete registered by Gombe State, winning three gold medals in all three events she registered for to 9-year-old golf prodigy, Fumilayo Beauty Oyero, who also won medal and others.
One of the states that took part in the Games is Anambra State, winning 26 medals; nine gold, nine silver and eight bronze medals, however, one striking thing about the state is the fact that the bulk of the athletes that represented and achieved glory for the state came from some specific schools with Vision School, Nnewi, particularly excelling in track and field.
Pick of the stars of the Anambra State’s medal haul was Chigozie Rosemary Nwankwo, a product of Vision School, who cleared all the top medals in track and field. Nwankwo won gold in girls’ 100m, and 200m while also combining with the trio of Adaeze Eze, Miracle David and Ifechukwu Nwankwo to win the 4x100m relay girls. Adaeze Eze also won the gold in the Long Jump and the silver medal in the girls’ 200m.
At the heart of this success is Anambra’s school sports initiative, which has been instrumental in nurturing young athletes and providing them with the training and resources necessary to compete at a high level.
From silver to gold 14-year-old
Nwankwo participated in the 2023 NYG, where she won a silver in the 100m girls’ race. She returned in 2024 to win gold in the same event and two more gold medals, 200m and 4x100m relay helping Anambra retain the relay gold.
She was then a student of Vision School. “After my performance last year at the same NYG, I was given a scholarship by Golden Tulip International College, Abuja and I just entered SS1,” she said.
“I’m so happy while preparing for the Games, all I was thinking was to win gold in all my events and it all came to pass. Last year I won silver in 100m and gold in the relay, but I trained hard to win the 100m and 200m gold. “My target in athletics is to achieve great things, like Mary Onyali, Tobi Amusan, and others who have achieved great things in the sport.”
Eze targets Olympic medal
Another upcoming star of Anambra sport is Adaeze Eze who is looking forward to making waves in the Long Jump which remains her main event, she was able to win two more medals in the relay and 100m. While explained the reason why she has been participating in other events like 100m and 200m, was to help her in the long jump event.
A former Vision School sturdent who is also scholarship beneficiary and now a student of Golden Tulip, Abuja, Eze said after winning a bronze medal during her first outing at the NYG, she was happy to return home with two medals. “My event is Long Jump 100, 200, and 4 x 100m. I have been combining all the events because of my long jump.
The 100m and 200m allowed me to have speed between my long jump,” she said. When asked for the reason why she decided to dedicate the medals to her father, she said it was a difficult time for her trying to take to sports as her mother didn’t want to hear anything of such.
She added: “When I started sports at Vision Schools, my mother did not allow me at all, it was only my father who was begging her to release me. Telling her that it is only from education that people achieve success, and now that I was able to win a scholarship through sports, she finally agreed with my father.
First time lucky
It was first time lucky for another student of Vision School, Chioma Edeh, who in her first outing at the Games won the gold medal in the 800m girls.
The 14-year-old praised the principal of their school, Alpha Bakam, for not giving up on them despite most of them not interested in sports initially. Edeh said it was like the man was stressing them when he introduced sports to some of them initially but now the effort is paying off.
Edeh said: “When it all started, I felt that he was stressing me and other stuff. But at last, I noticed that he was doing it for me and not for himself. “Because he is our principal and also the coach, he always fashioned out time for everything and that has been helping us.
Studies from 8.30 to 2.30 pm and 2.30 to 6 o’clock for training and also weekends. “To achieve my goal of making it to the Olympics, I need to continue working and training hard because those that have achieved such greatness in life did that through hard work.”
Three-in-one role
The owner of Vision School, Alpha Godwin Bakam, also doubles as the principal of the school as well as the coach of most of the school’s athletes.
According to Bakam, his inability to excel as an athlete due to pressure from his parents informed his decision to bring out stars from the school and at the moment it has started yielding results with some of the products of the school excelling in various events. According to Bakam, he grew up as a sports person but since he couldn’t continue, he already transferred his knowledge to the students in the school.
On issues of having problems with some parents who might not be happy with his quest for students to take sports very important, he said he has had a cause to call some parents to come and take their children away from the school if they can’t allow them to participate in sports. “Like the Eze girl that is currently on scholarship in Abuja, when she came in, her parents said no, that they didn’t bring their daughter to school for sports but for education,” he explained.
“I was even the one that threatened them that they should come and take her away from the school because I saw the potential in her and it would break my heart if I didn’t see her excelling in sports. “So, immediately I told the parents, if this girl is not going to do athletics in this school, take your daughter home.
“I, however, reached a compromise with them to give me three years with her and if nothing comes out of it, I will surely stop. “When the Anambra State government started The Anambra State Sports Solution Initiative, she was part of the athletes that excelled and from there made it to the 2023 Youth Games from where she got a scholarship.
“After seeing what happened, other parents started allowing their children to concentrate more on sports as they realized that it can even help them in the long run. “Although we are still having some adamant ones I know with time and more athletes making a name for themselves, they will see the reason for their children to be part of the movement.”
Apart from track and field, Bakam has some students excelling in other sports like chess and scrabble and he said after watching some not have the strength for the rigour of outfield events, but they are good intellectually, he always takes them through sports like chess and scrabble with some of them also part of the contingent of the state to the Games.
Commissioner
The chairman of the Anambra State Sports Development Commission, Patrick Estate Onyedum, in his assessment said the performance of the state’s athletes at the last National Youth Games showed that the investment of the state governor, Charles Soludo, in sports through the Anambra State Sports Solution Initiative is already paying off with some of the athletes from the state enjoying scholarships to study even outside the state. “The athletes did wonderfully well, but doing wonderfully well starts from somewhere.
That somewhere is the Anambra State Sports Solution Initiative,”’ he said. “If you go through Mr. Governor’s manifesto, you will see what gave birth to what happened in the last two Youth Games. In his manifesto, he said he wants a situation whereby we have to go back to the olden days when they used to have school sports.
And the minute I came into office in 2022, I followed the same line with his vision and his idea. “Every year, it is always a carnivallike activity whereby we combine primary and secondary school. And in doing that, we have about 10 games, 10 different games.
We have what is called U-12, U-14 and U-17. U-12 is for primary school alone, then U-14 is for JSS, why U-17 is for seniors. So, that is how we did it in 2023. We discovered all these children. “So, it’s the vision of Mr. Governor. And he looks for somebody who will toe the same line and by the grace of God, he appointed me.
“Our plan, is we have to have a special school, a special school for each event. Apart from Vision High School which is good in track and field, there are others with special events. We have a school for volleyball, the one for table tennis and the rest.
So if you are discovered, the state governor will move such a student to the school on scholarship. Mr. Governor last year, gave scholarships to all the government schools from JSS, from the primary school to JSS. We have been giving the scholarship on our own. So that is one of the secrets.”
