By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
As a result of the premium it attaches to talent development by accepting to host the second edition of the National Youth Games, the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Kwara State is losing nothing less than N50 million which would have been generated from accommodation rates charged students that attend its sandwich programmes at the institution.
This was disclosed by the Director of Sports UNILORIN, Professor Olawole Obiyemi when interviewed to find out level of preparation of the institution on phone on Friday.
Professor Obiyemi explained that the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Abdulganiyu Ambali who is a sports lover and a believer in the development of the youth has always emphasized that what the country needs most at this time is the development of its youth as a precursor of a brighter future.
“We would have generated about N50m from sandwich students who pay N15,000 each for accommodation, but because we want the National Youth Games to get the best, we asked them to seek accommodation elsewhere.
“The importance of the National Youth Games was made our priority as we are now making our accommodation available to over 4,000 athletes and officials free of charge,” he said.
He said that the Vice Chancellor has since the beginning of the year commenced preparations towards its success, which involved series of meetings and signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
“The Vice Chancellor is a sports loving man. In February, he delegated four professors to attend a meeting of the National Council of Sports in Tinapa,” he added.
On the preparations of the institution to host the Games, he said that everything was in place to ensure a successful and memorable second edition.
