The Kwara Government has urged sports stars in the country to serve as positive role models and mentors to youths.
The Kwara Deputy Governor, Mr Kayode Alabi, gave the charge during a courtesy visit by Ruth Ogbeifo Balofin Community Project Foundation (ROBCOP’s) in Ilorin on Wednesday.
Alabi said the country’s youth need positive inspiration from successful role models such as sports stars who are popular among youths.
He noted the importance of sports in the society and how sports can be a good source of livelihood for those who wish to build career from it.
He said the present administration was leveraging on the transformative and economic potentials of sports to positively engage youths in the state.
The deputy governor therefore pledged support for ROBCOP’s initiative and solicited top sportsmen and women’s partnership for the administration’s initiatives in the sports sector.
Speaking earlier, the Team Leader, Mrs Ruth Balofin, a one time weight lifting champion, who has won many gold and silver medals at national and international levels, pledged her commitment to weightlifting.
Balofin said she returned to Kwara to give back to the society where her stardom sprouted from.
Balofin, who is based in United Kingdom, indicated her intention to build a first of its kind weightlifting gym at the Ilorin Stadium complex where her career started from.
She therefore appealed to the state government to support her in reviving weightlifting at the stadium to nurture fresh talents.
Balofin said she became a weightlifting champion because someone also supported her dreams.
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