By Andrew Abah, Abuja
The National Sports Commission, NSC, has announced that the “Invited Diaspora Athletes” (IDA), will make a debut at the maiden National Intermediate Games scheduled for Lagos, later in the year.
The IDA is one of the many key reforms that the NSC, under the leadership of Mallam Shehu Dikko and Hon. Bukola Olopade, has established as part of the Renewed Hope Initiative for Nigeria’s Sports Economy, RHINSE.
Director-General of the NSC, Hon. Bukola Olopade said since the establishment of the Diaspora Discovery Athletes Committee, which is currently chaired by Tunde Adelakun, the committee had swiftly swung into action with many Nigerians in the Diaspora showing significant interest to compete for Nigeria.
The DG maintained that this is one of the reasons the Invited Diaspora Athletes team will be fully involved at the Intermediate Games this year in Lagos.
“We are very excited about this initiative because of the immediate and futuristic impact it will have on our sports development. At the Intermediate Games in Lagos, we will be having about 50 athletes that will be coming from the Diaspora, competing for IDA”.
“This will surely be another major game changer for Nigerian sports and it will surely upscale the competitive edge of Team Nigeria at major International competitions.”
Chairman of the Diaspora Discovery Athletes Committee, Tunde Adelakun said the IDA team will be ready for the Intermediate Games and even subsequent National competitions, while commending the NSC for pulling through this bold initiative.
“We are already working on having a camp site here in Europe where we will have all the Invited Diaspora Athletes, from where we will pick the team for the intermediate games and I must tell you, the athletes are already looking forward to this because it has never happened in the history of our country,” he said.
At the 22nd National Sports Festival in Ogun State last year, the Invited Junior Athletes, IJA, competed as a 37th state and made significant impacts by winning medals and similarly the Invited Diaspora Athletes (IDA), will feature at the Intermediate Games this year as a 38th state.
