Bravo! UNIPORT

For the third consecutive time, one of Nigeria’s foremost second generation universities, the University of Port Harcourt, has demonstrated unequalled leadership even in school sports within the West African sub-region.

The university had in the just concluded 13th edition of the West African University Games (WAUG) hosted by University of Ilorin, topped the medals table with an unparalleled margin. It garnered a total of 93 medals out of which 48 were gold, 26 silver and 19 bronze.

To finally erase all cynicisms generated by its first and second victories in WAUG, Team UNIPORT pushed its closest rival, Team UNIBEN, to a distant second position where Team UNIBEN was consoled with 23 medals made up of 9  gold, 5 silver and 9 bronze medals. It is also interesting to note that the 48 gold medals gathered by Team UNIPORT constitute nearly a third of the 121 gold medals on offer.

Another unique feature of Team UNIPORT’s medal collection is the fact that 18 out of the 48 gold medals came from swimming. This goes to justify the argument often made that with an enabling environment, the youths of this nation can excel in ennobling ventures and can easily shade the toga of criminality and anti-social behaviours often ascribed to them.

It is noteworthy that UNIPORT has remained a leader in sporting infrastructure. In swimming particularly, the institution plays host to a world class swimming pool widely acclaimed as the best in West Africa.

While we specially commend the management of UNIPORT and the government for providing and continuously maintaining these facilities, we also say bravo! to the students who have justified these effort by making judicious use of the facilities. We commend them for improving their sporting skills such that sports experts now agree that they can stand their ground even at Olympic meets.

Team UNIPORT has indeed made Rivers State, their primary host, Niger Delta and Nigeria proud by this rare feat they performed, but we should not stop at the euphoria of sharing the pride of their victory.

The victory provides an opportunity for other youths, who think they can only assert their invincibility through armed banditry, kidnapping, suicide bombing and militancy, to introspect and know that their mental and physical energies could be harnessed and channeled to worthy personal and societal benefits.

The assiduousness, dexterity and discipline demonstrated by the team throughout the game, also deserves special commendation. These attributes show the patriotic zeal with which the team approached the competition.

It is against this backdrop that we recommend members of Team UNIPORT as worthy role models and therefore use them as point of contact to reach other youths in tertiary institutions and universities in the state and beyond to emulate the good example.

We also urge the government and the management of the university to ensure that this feat that comes with so much benefit including good health, mental and physical fitness, fame and money is continuously repeated and possibly replicated in other institutions in the country.

One sure way to do this is through the provision of the necessary infrastructure in all the institutions such that more of the undergraduates can access these facilities in their institutions of learning. This effort can also be extended to the primary and secondary levels of education through emphasis on school sports in order to catch the talents young. There is no gain saying that engagement in sporting activities will help discourage students who may otherwise find succour in clandestine activities such as cultism.

Once again, we say bravo! to Team UNIPORT for showing others the way to become worthy ambassadors of our great nation.