Kwara Bemoans Poaching Of Athletes

The Kwara Government has bemoaned the rate at which its
athletes were being poached by other states in the country.

Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Anthony
Towoju, described the development as worrisome when he distributed equipment to
16 sports associations.

The equipment was procured by the Kwara State Sports
Council.

The Commissioner said that he had spoken with many of the
athletes but they replied that they were offered jobs with better pay by those
states.

According to him, the state will pay more attention to its
sportsmen and women by improving on their welfare.

Towoju lamented that the athletes who did the state proud at
the 2011 National Sports Festival in Port Harcourt had yet to be compensated.

“I have done well on my part and the governor has also
approved money; it is now for the Ministry of Finance to release the money.

“One of the reasons why we are failing in Nigeria is that we
don’t take the issue of motivation seriously and until we do that, we cannot be
talking of excelling.

He charged the athletes to prepare well for the 18th
National Sports Festival in Lagos in November, saying that the government would
not be happy if its image was put to shame.

Coach Tunde Kazeem, Director of the State Sports Council,
said that the equipment was to prepare the athletes for the festival.