The new board of the Akwa Ibom State Track and Field Association has charted a new course for sports development in the state and may be turning the focus on the body at the national level of a reference of excellence in sports administration.
The vibrant board led by the amiable and pragmatic chairman, Mr. Nsentip Akpabio had her inaugural meeting on Monday November 11, 2013 with the zeal, commitment and patriotic quest to uplift athletics in Akwa Ibom State to the front burner of the sports renaissance which presently adorns the state under the leadership of the sports loving Governor, Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio.
In his remarks at the inaugural meeting, the chairman of the Association, Mr. Nsentip Akpabio going down memory lane recalled that over the years, Track and Field events had been deliberately pushed to the back seat as the reason was not for fetched as often times a higher premium has been placed on soccer with unintended negative consequences on other sports.
At the Olympics, the Track and Field events usually attracts the highest capacity crowds especially the races to determine the fastest man and woman on earth whose commercial worth cannot be quantified.
The power of athletics cannot be overemphasized with the thrills, glamour, drama, and media hype and upswing celeberations with global attention on such major events.
As such, the Olympics, All Africa Games, The IAFF Golden Meets, Commonwealth Games and other major Track and Field meets have continued to command global attention as it competes favorably with football, the king of sports.
Today, Track and Field has produced great legends like Usain Bolt (the current World and Olympic Champion in 100m), Maria Mutola, and Carl Lewis, Ben Johnson, Justin Gatlin, Frankie Fredericks and others.
On the home front, Nigerian athletes have made international prominence in the likes of Chidi Imoh, the Ezinwa brothers, Olapade Adenekan, Gabriel Okon, Innocent Egbuike, Gloria Asunmu, Uduak Ekah, Aniefiok Udobong and the rave of the moment, Blessing Okagbare currently ranked fourth in the world in the 100 metres women category.
The charge by the Akwa Ibom State Track and Field Association to change the face of athletics in the state remains commendable despite the dearth of facilities for our budding athletes.
The clarion call by the association on sports enthusiasts, public spirited and high net worth individuals, private and multi-national organisations and governments at all levels to henceforth put all hands on deck with a view to steering the ship of Track and Field not only to safety but also to blossoming point whereupon it can be placed at per with soccer and other events has set bench marks as the association has hit the ground running.
The association has started earnestly for a long term development of Track and Field in Akwa Ibom State. Already, the emphasis of a solid platform has started with the need to prepare a budget for the 2014 athletics season.
It must be noted that the association is entitled to attend 10 athletics classics throughout the year, failure of which may bat the team from featuring at any major athletics event coming to hold next year.
The need for the long term programme would unveil a carefully detailed programme in which the association intends to hinge the beginning of its success story.
Already, to address some of the challenges of the association in the state, the chairman, Mr. Nsentip Akpabio has donated a brand new bus to ease the transportation challenges of the state athletes to their training bases and attend national classics.
Mr. Nsentip Akpabio is a man after my heart. He has set new standards in sports development. He had shown excellent and quality leadership in sports administration. He has charted a new course for the development of Track and Field in Akwa Ibom State.
Watching and listening to his vision, you can simply understand the passion he has brought into the fore to give Akwa Ibom State a national pride on the podium in Track and Field.
His benevolence towards the development of the state athletes continues to grow as he approved funding in millions of naira for the state athletes whose camp opens this week for the inaugural National Youth Games scheduled to hold in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja from December 5, 2013.
Mr. Nsentip Akpabio heart to develop Track and Field remains a milestone as he works with a committed team of board members whose professionalism in the discharge of their duties has sustained the philosophy of team work as the success story begins for the association.
Another athletics laudable concept of the association is the need to organise local athletics championships across the grassroot, and zones, the need to liase with the Ministry of Education on the development of school sports and the harnessing of these talents to bring national and international honours to Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria at large.
The need to hire world class coaches regardless of whether they are Nigerians or not as suggested by the association chairman is a welcome development to enhance the techniques of our athletes and he need for continous exposure to competitions.
As rightly suggested in his speech, the need for sports Academy and athletics clubs would be a great innovation towards the development of the sport in Akwa Ibom State as it would provide a platform of competion at training grounds between partners and enhance their skills.
As we await the completion of the Olympic Size Stadium next year in the state, there will be a boost to sports tourism in Akwa Ibom State and athletics is bound to take the centre stage of national excellence as the state would be new platform to harness our budding potentials to international heights.
As we work towards the National Sports Festival Scheduled for Calabar, Cross River State next year, the pace of development in Track and Field in Akwa Ibom State may provide a greater platform for more media hauls as Team Akwa Ibom will aim for a Top five finish at the games.
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