NIPOGA: A3 Foundation preaches youth empowerment through sports

As preparations are in top gear for the next edition of the Nigeria Polytechnic Games (NIPOGA), the need for youths to leverage on sports and become entrepreneurs has been emphasised.

Promoters of the upcoming sporting festival, the A3 Foundation, said it is putting up an active social centre at the host school, the Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa, which aims at producing entrepreneurship minded youths at the end of the games.

Speaking yesterday at a media interaction to ascertain the level of preparedness of the host school, A3 Foundation Founder/Chief Executive Officer and former Kogi State First Lady, Hajiya Aisha Audu-Emeje, said it is important to always engage the youth to keep them away from the negative vices prevalent in the country today.

“I advise youths generally to be engaged in this sports festival because there are so many negative vices taking the attention of the youths, particularly the unemployed ones.

“We want our communities beyond this competition to have successful sports men and women, and the NIPOGA is a venture that would take them to the next height in life because they would be participating as youth entrepreneurs,” she said.

Earlier, NIPOGA President and Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa, Professor Abdulkadir Saidu Shetima, noted that Nigeria was known internationally, stressing that an event such as NIPOGA must be properly organized, as it could be an incubation ground to scout for both male and female talents in sports.

“We want to have the NIPOGA of international standards and that is why we involved professional sports men like Ambassador John Fashanu, media personalities and sports promoters like the A3 Foundation.

“Our school is also putting every innovation in place to have a memorable games festival as well as ensure that NIPOGA  won’t be the way it has always been,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, Ambassador John Fashanu emphasised the need for grassroots sports, assuring that the games would be a fiesta and sports festival different from those held in the past.