Nigeria is a nation with an astronomical number of talents and skills. With well over 300 ethnic groups and 500 tribes, ranking high on Erkan Goren’s World Cultural Diversity Index. Soon to be 57 years old, Nigeria has thrived and progressed undivided. Over the years, we have been plagued with separatists here and there, but even in the midst of the chaos, there have been certain events that have brought us together. One of which is the National Youth Games.
The maiden edition of the NYG kicked off in December 2013 with 33 states in participation, including the host; Abuja, 14 different sports were registered for the tournament. Cross River took the lead as the overall winner, Akwa Ibom and Delta followed respectively. The second edition of the NYG held last year at the University of Ilorin, Kwara state and ended with Delta clinching the lead and taking home 9 gold medals, 7 silver medals, and 10 bronze medals. Ogun followed with 17 medals while Anambra and Kwara had 16 medals each. The third edition of the National Youth Games is scheduled to hold for the second time in the University of Ilorin, Kwara state between the 7th and 17th of September 2017.
A total of 26 states including the host have registered to compete in the tournament. According to Okere Emmanuel, Secretary of the Main Organising Committee (MOC), the tournament will consist of 27 sports, including five team sports. The team events include Basketball, Cricket, Cycling, Handball, Hockey (Five Aside) and Volleyball. The new sports introduced are; Traditional Sports (Ayo/Kokowa), Wushu-Kungfu, Beach Volleyball, Cycling, and Golf, while Canoeing/Rowing and Roller Skating would feature as demonstrative sports.
The tournament would be used to select the Nigeria’s representatives at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.
Feature image: NTA
You might also like:
This article was first published on 7th September 2017 and updated on September 8th, 2017 at 3:23 pm
achem
Achem Samuel is a writer and a musician, he is passionate about God and also an ardent fan of tech, sports and music.
Comments (0)