By Salifu Usman, Abuja
For excelling at the recently concluded FCT School Sports Festival dry-run, sponsor Ratels Sports Development Foundation (RSDF), has splashed a cash reward worth over five million naira (N5, 000, 000:00) on the victorious athletes.
Presenting the cash reward for the event held between March 27th and 30th, 2023 to athletes at the FCTA Secretariat Abuja on Wednesday, RSDF president Barrister Paul Edeh expressed delight that the festival which began as a dream with the signing of MoU become a reality with the conclusion of the dry-run event.
“Today is not a speech making day but to express first our gratitude to the FCT administration for trusting us to be able to undertake such a huge task and we are happy because today we are not here to give a wrong account but to give a worthy account for that trust you in us.”
“I have not even looked at what we spent in the budget but I think we spent over 5m naira which was solely funded by Ratels Sport Development Foundation and not from any outsider.
“Indeed some of the take home and the benefits derived from the dry run are many but I will just highlight about 7 points. There were discoveries of youngsters, award of scholarships to exceptional students by RSDF, the enthusiasm of schools and students towards education and sports was built, the promotion of good health of students through sports was achieved, students were motivated to take sports seriously and the promotion of grassroots Sports Development was achieved,” Edeh said.
He commended the tireless effort of the joint planning committee and FCT administration, with the hope of a full scale sports festival in September 2023.
While appreciating the athletes for their feat, Secretary for Education, FCT, Sani Dahiru EL-Katuzu, commended the sponsor of the festival for bringing out the hidden talents among the students in Federal Capital Territory.
“I am really excited you have done wonderfully well and I want to believe that this engagement will continue and I hope it will continue even after I exit from the office. I congratulate the winners for the feat”
Excitement greeted the arena as the athletes filed out to receive their cash reward and compliments from the special guests on the occasion.
One of the athletes, Samuel Olasukomi from Government Secondary School Garki who won 800meters, 400 meters and high jump is looking forward to becoming an elite athlete. “I want to say thank you to the sponsors and organizers for helping me to receive the first award in my life and honesty feel very excited”
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