Minister underscores importance of military sports
Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, Minister of Science and Technology, says military sporting activities in Sahel region of Africa would facilitate peace and unity among the military in countries of the region. The Minister said this when the President of Organisation of Military Sports in Africa (OSMA), Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Abdullahi, paid him a courtesy visit on Tuesday […]
Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, Minister of Science and Technology, says military sporting activities in Sahel region of Africa would facilitate peace and unity among the military in countries of the region.
The Minister said this when the President of Organisation of Military Sports in Africa (OSMA), Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Abdullahi, paid him a courtesy visit on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said it was evident that sports remained a very important instrument for national integration, first, for bringing people together and uniting the nation.
According to him, sporting activities are a unifying force that binds Nigeria together.
'We recognise the importance of sports for the integration of our nation, in making Nigeria become a truly great nation.
“We believe also that within the Sahel region sporting activities would be very useful because that will be one way to help bring the military in these countries, together,’’ he said.
Onu, who further underscored the vital role of sports within the Sahel region, said sports had no language barrier as they are language neutral.
He gave the assurance that his ministry would continue to make positive contributions to sports development in Nigeria.
However, he called on the Organised Private Sector (OPS) to invest in Nigerian expertise and innovations, stressing that football produced in Nigeria would be of better quality than those imported into the country.
The Minister also pledged support for the OSMA project.
Earlier, Brig.-Gen. Abdullahi, told the Minister the purpose of his visit was to inform him that the Board members of OSMA had appointed him Patron of Sahel Games.
Abdullahi said the games would take place by October 2021 in Nigeria with 16 participating countries.
He also intimated the minister that 27 members of the organisation from 15 countries would again visit him on July 26, after their executive meeting in Nigeria.
“We will use that opportunity to decorate the honourable minister and pay our allegiance as our patron,’’ he said.
