Curb youth restiveness with sports, says Irabor

Chief of Defence Staff, Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, has described sports as the foundation for discipline and a great weapon to curb youth restiveness in the country.

Irabor said this on Sunday in Abuja as a special guest at the opening of the 2021 Region 10 Sports Competition of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).

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He commended the organisers of the competition for identifying and using sports to keep the youths focused.

“I am here for the mere fact that the church has recognised the place of sports in the development of the total man and that of course is the reason I am giving my support.

“In the military, we believe that sports are actually the foundation for discipline; for anybody in the military, sporting activities are part and parcel of our food because without sports we can’t be physically fit to defend the nation.

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“For us, we will support any initiative that drives the essentials of having our youths focused and for us to have a healthy nation,” Irabor said.

Pastor Ezekiel Odeyemi, Continental Overseer, Northern Region, and Pastor in charge of Region 10 of the Church, said the competition was in line with the church’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

This, Odeyemi said, was to engage the people in sports and evangelism activities, and taking them off the street as well as reducing the incidence of crime in our society.

“In an often divided world, sports is a unique and important connecting tissue that binds people together both across and within societies.

“Sports transcend all kinds of national, cultural, socio-economic, political and religious barriers, as someone once said, we are all Nigerians on a match day.

“Sports has the power to change the world, it has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people and to speak to youths in a language they understand.

“Sports can create hope where there is despair, it is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers and it laughs in the face of types of discrimination.

“It has the power to teach our youths, among other virtues, the importance of hard work, the importance of teamwork, the importance of persistence and the need for tolerance.

“Through this competition, the mission also discovers talents, nurtures and supports them to become agents of change and make meaningful contributions to their families and society at large,” Odeyemi said.

The man of God noted that the church had concluded plans to build a state-of-the-art sport and vocational academy for the youths.

He urged the Federal Capital Territory Administration to partner with the church by allocating the land required for this project so it can nurture talents to become agents of change to the society.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the competition which would last till July 25 has 19 teams participating in 10 different sports.

The participating teams are the Central Parish, which is the Headquarters of Region 10, Youth Province six and Province 11 as well as FCT one to 16. (NAN)

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