Osun State Governor, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, on Thursday said his administration would deploy sports as a tool to spread love and unity.
Speaking at the state’s maiden Sports Festival final at Osogbo township stadium, he said the initiative was targeted at engendering peaceful coexistence, sustaining Osun’s status as the most peaceful State in the country and achieving the goal of speedy transformation of the socio-economic development of the State.
He said: “Without any iota of doubt, this Sports Festival, which is now culminating into its finals today, is another giant stride by this administration. It stems from our avowed and determined quest to transform sports and youth development in our State.
“From time immemorial, sports have been used to establish ties and build camaraderie among people all over the world. In line with this time-tested objective, we are employing sports to preach and spread the messages of love, unity, hope and development so that we can continue to sustain our status as the most peaceful State in the country and achieve our goal of transforming our socioeconomic development.
“Sport stands as the cornerstone of our proud heritage and shares unmistakable attributes with our way of life. It has accorded us an avenue to display our creativity and stimulate perseverance, diligence and a strong sense of commitment among our people. It has also underscored our belief that sport is a potent instrument for building character.
“As you already know, sports development is one of the major ways to harness and empower our teeming youths. This festival has therefore provided the opportunity not only to engage our youths productively but to also harness their latent potential for productive engagement.
“I wish to emphasise here that the aim of this project is to institute the State Policy on Sports as enshrined in the State Youth Policy”, he said.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Yemi Lawal described youths as the most energetic and productive segment of the population praising the administration for investing tremendously in the sector, saying, “It has been the focus of the present administration under the leadership of our able and dynamic Governor to develop sports at the grassroots.
At the finals of the football competition, Ejigbo Local Government Area Football Club won the tournament and secured the trophy by 4-1 against Ife-East Local Government Area Football Club.
Other winners in the other sporting activities were also honoured and rewarded.