All Eyes On IJA As The Countdown To the 22nd National Sports Festival Hots Up

All Eyes On IJA As The Countdown To the 22nd National Sports Festival Hots Up

Ibrahim Lateef

A city surrounded by rocks will come alive from the 16th of May when the best of Nigeria Sportsmen and women converge for what promises to be a showpiece event, reports BSNSports.com.ng.

The 22nd National Sports Festival is going to Ogun state again, nineteen years after the Gateway state dazzled the nation with exceptional organisation and excellent hosting.

That was 2006, when the present Director General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade, was the commissioner of Sports of the Gateway state. Appreciated for his brilliance and respected for his wisdom, Bukola is at it again.

As Director General of the National Sports Commission and chairman of the Main Organizing committee for the games, Bukola Olopade and his friend, Shehu Dikko who is the Chairman of the National Sports Commission sat down, wearing their thinking caps and at the end of a fruitful meeting, came up with the Invited Junior Athletes ( IJA INITIATIVE).

For clarification purposes, this initiative was created to allow young exceptional athletes to showcase their talents at the fast-approaching National Sports Festival. 

The National Sports Commission identified a few standout performances from the last National Youth Games and has extended an invitation to these athletes to participate under one umbrella at the 22nd National Sports Festival.

According to the DG of the sports commission, these Invited Junior Athletes will be classified as the 38th state at the festival and will line up for medals and honours against established names from the 37 states of the federation.

The intention is to give them a chance to prove a point, upset the form books and write their own story. If any of these IJA athletes manage to outshine their elite counterparts at the games, then a discovery has emerged for upcoming international events like the Commonwealth and Olympic games.

 The commission is using the Sports festival as the bedrock for fresh discoveries, knowing that there are lots of untapped talents waiting to be discovered.