In a bid to reduce high rate of social vices in the country, the Police Campaign Against Crime and other Vices (POCACOV), on Thursday, held a rural and urban sports workshop to seek ways of reviving various sporting activities at the urban and rural areas to get the youths engaged.
In his address at the event held at the indoor hall of Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu, the National Coordinator of POCACOV, CSP Ebere Amaraizu, said that sports is one of the things that unites people and reduces vises in the society.
He said the objectives of the programme were to galvanise stakeholders’ support, enhance participation towards the development of urban and rural sports as community policing element.”To promote a framework that will support the growth of urban and rural sports development which will help transmit olympic values in our youths for greater society.
“Develop a sustainable platform that will serve as an urban and rural sports talent hub for government, multi agencies and stakeholders to tap from.
According to Amaraizu, the programme will identify, nuture and expose young talents of male and female to multiple sporting activities and guide them to make right choice in order to thrive for excellence.
“It will reawaken consciousness of government and other stakeholders on the importance of sports as a platform solving venture for a greater society”, the national coordinator said.
In his Goodwill message, Chairman Enugu State Football Association (ENSFA) ,Tony Ugwu thanked the organisers of the workshop.for putting together the programme. He observed that sports has been relegated to the background in the country.
Ugwu recalled the time, when there were speedy sports development through, community and schools sports which gave great lift to the grassroots sports development.
He appealed to the sports organisers in the state to think of taking sports to the rural communities and not limiting it to the metropolis.
Nollywood actor and POCACOV Ambassador,
Nkem Owoh(Osuofia) in his part , said that sports has lost its value in the country, compare to the time when people were eager to engage in it.
“I could remember when we use play football with stones as our goal post and we are not even playing to be noticed.
“It is disheartening that those excitement, when youths put in all their energy and time to it has gone,” Owoh said.
In her Keynote address, Executive Director of Heroine Women Foundation, Onyinye Mamah called on sports stakeholders to incoportate female into the industry to salvage them from rape, battering and abuse.
She urged sports takeholders to give male counterparts lifeline through sports as such will guarantee the safety of the female children.
“The improtant of sports cannot be over emphasised because it is a huge gain for all of us as human that made up a community,”she said.
Earlier in his remarks, Officer-incharge of Sports, ASP Kyrian Igwe, said he theme of the event, “Our Children Must Strive”,was aimed at problem solving, self discovering and value reorientation. He said that no sports should be placed above the other, all sporting activities should encouraged because no one knows the one that can lift people high.
Many sports stakeholders, POCACOV Ambassadors, sports personalities and sports enthusiasts were in attendance.
