By Andrew Abah, Abuja
The National Sports Commission, NSC, has announced Lagos State as the host of its maiden edition of the National Intermediate Games in 2026.
The concept of the games is one of the RHINSE initiatives of the National Sports Commission to structurally harness, monitor and develop the country’s sporting talents within the ages of 16 and 19.
Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Shehu Dikko, said as a country, Nigeria must have a proper grassroots model for the discovery of budding talents which will show an organic pathway system to the elite cadre.
“We are determined to have a sustainable podium success at international competitions but it will only come with having the right structure that can aide elite success and the intermediary games will strengthen our goals.
“The bedrock of every sustained sports development is an effective grassroots system and this is what we are aggressively pursuing with the mandate given to us by Mr. President”.
The Director-General of the NSC, Hon. Bukola Olopade said this is another intentional step to curb some of the age challenges of the country’s grassroots sports.
“With the National Youth Games and the National Sports Festival fully established, the Intermediate Games will help bridge the gap and will give better clarity to our grassroots development drive and will help our young athletes to have better preparations before they move to the elite level.
“And we are very excited that Lagos State has graciously agreed to host the first edition which will go down as a major milestone in the illustrious sporting history of our country,” Olopade enthused.
