By Dare Kuti, Lokoja on August 20, 2016
As the National Youth Games draws near, Kogi State wrestling contingent on Thursday departed the state for an inter-state friendly wrestling in Anambra State without the state government support.
The Kogi wrestlers were conveyed to Awka, the Anambra State capital by the coach of Kano State wrestling association, Ado Ibrahim, when they passed the night over in Lokoja.
The competition is scheduled for Friday (19th) and Saturday (20th). The state will is being represented by five wrestlers and two coaches.
They consist of four males, namely, Friday Godwin (54Kg), Sunday Musa (56Kg), Peter Jonah (54Kg) and Yakubu Saliu (63Kg) as well as a female Wrestler, Aina Ileigo (54Kg).
The wrestling team have been preparing for the games since June 2016. It was gathered that proposals were submitted to the ministry of Youth and Sports but as at the time of filing this report funds had not been released to the team.
Efforts to reach the Commissioner for Youth and Sports in Kogi State proved abortive as all attention seems to be on the upcoming National Judiciary games scheduled to hold later in the month.
This is not the first time that promising athletes from the state would be stranded in their bid to represent the state at both national and international competitions.
It is generally believed that successive administrations in the state had done little or nothing to improve on the fortunes of sports generally. Consequently, this has led to mass exodus of talents from the state to states that accord priority to sports developments.
•Photo shows wrestlers.
Source Daily Sports
Posted August 20, 2016
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