Dr.  Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta State has called on state governments across the country to be involved in the development of sports to curb societal ills in the country.

The governor made the call  in Asaba while declaring open the annual general assembly of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), he said that sports is a unifying factor.

According to Senator Okowa,  “the more we get our youths to exert their energy in the appropriate direction, the better for us as a nation, sports unifies the people, football is very unifying and all the states of the country should be involved in sports development and support the growth of football.”

The Governor observed that crime and criminal activities hardly occur when there are sporting events, asserting, “we believe that we must direct the energy of our youths appropriately.”

While commending the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF)for choosing Stephen Keshi Stadium as venue for football tournaments, Dr. Okowa stated, “we are a very peaceful people, very caring and we look forward to your coming to Delta State particularly in bringing more competitions.”.

The Governor lauded the NFF for believing in excellence by re-electing Mr Pinnick Amaju as its President, noting that Mr Amaju, a Deltan is passionate about football.

He also used the occasion to disclose that apart from his administration’s commitment to providing world-class sporting facilities, the Principals’ Cup have been revived for secondary school students while annual Headmaster’s Cup competition for pupils of all the primary schools in the state has also been initiated for sporting talents to be discovered early, adding that plans have been concluded for athletics championships to be organised for schools to enable the state continuously maintain its leading position in sports championship in the country.