NAN-S-6
Judo
By Kemi Ajayi
Lagos, June 28, 2017 (NAN) Timothy Nsirim, President-elect of Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF), on Wednesday in Lagos said the body would look outward for necessary support to further develop the sport in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nsirim was re-elected unopposed at the June 13 elections of the national sports federations.
Nsirim told NAN that government alone should not be saddled with the responsibility of sports development in the country.
“Depending mainly on government to develop sport is not the best and that is what has affected many sports in the country.
“But now we will do everything possible to partner with individuals and organisations are ready to support us in anyway,’’ he said.
The NJF president-elect added that more attention would be given to grassroots development of the sport and boosting the capacity of technical officials.
“If there are no athletes and coaches there wont be judo, so these two aspects will be our top priority as a board,’’ he said.
Nsirim, however, urged all stakeholders to support and contribute to the growth of the sport, saying they should shun activities which could hinder its growth.
“In the last four years, we had all sorts of unhealthy activities which hindered the sport and I don’t want a repeat of that in this next four years.
“So, I am making a passionate appeal to all judo lovers to unite in order to give the sport a new lease of life,’’ he said.(NAN)
KOA/ERO/OLAL
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(Edited by Emmanuel Okara and Olawale Alabi)