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Otti can start real grassroots sports revolution in Abia, says Uche

By EDITOR
02 February 2015   |   7:41 pm
MANY retired sportsmen and women in Abia State believe Dr. Alex Otti can kick start real grassroots development if he becomes governor of the state.     According to Onwusogh Amadi Uche, a member of the old Imo State Academicals team of the 1980s, retired sportsmen in the state believe that Otti, who retired as the…

MANY retired sportsmen and women in Abia State believe Dr. Alex Otti can kick start real grassroots development if he becomes governor of the state.   

 According to Onwusogh Amadi Uche, a member of the old Imo State Academicals team of the 1980s, retired sportsmen in the state believe that Otti, who retired as the managing Director of Diamond Bank, has the pedigree to engineer a new era of development in Abia State sports.

  Uche, who is one of the managers of his younger siblings, Kalu and Ikechukwu, who play professional football in Spain, says for a long time Abia State has been clamouring for a governor that knows the genuine needs of its youths.

   “The Dr. Otti that I know from Ngwa High School, Aba, is a meticulous man, who doesn’t do things just because others are into it. I had the opportunity of interacting with him several times when we were in school and each time I listened to him he came across as a young man, who knows how to achieve anything he sets out to do. Now, he has promised to create employment for Abia youths through sports and the arts by providing the enabling environment for the youths to develop their talents.

  “Abia is in need of such a leader because this is the only state in the South East with dilapidated sports infrastructure. There is no single tartan track in Abia State, while such other sports like basketball, table tennis, tennis and volleyball have no presence here.

  “Even the handball we dominated alongside Imo State in the 1980s has taken flight from our state because successive governments only pay attention to Enyimba and Abia Warriors. These teams alone cannot provide employment for the millions of Abia youths, who cannot play football.”

 Uche also believes that if better structured, “Enyimba and Abia Warriors could become an avenue for indigenes of the state to make their livelihood through businesses that feed from the popularity of football.

  “That is why retired sportsmen in the state want every Abia youth to key into the Dr. Otti project since he has promised to create the atmosphere for genuine sports development.” 

 

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