Rojenny MD tasks Onyedum On Grassroots Sports, Long Term Dev’t Plan
Rommy Ezeonwuka, the Managing Director of Rojenny Stadium and Games Village has called on Patrick Onyedum, Chairman of Anambra Sports Development Commission (ASDC) to revive and focus on grassroots sports.
Ezeonwuka made the call on Wednesday in his congratulatory message to Onyedum who was appointed by governor Chukwuma Soludo to head the Commission last week.
He urged the new chairman to shun the lure of immediate glory which he said were not sustainable but draw a four year development plan with the view of raising a new generation of sports stars in Anambra.
The foremost sports facility investor said the abandonment of school sports had regarded the progress of Anambra and that bringing sports back to school should get priority attention of the new management of the ASDC under Onyedum.
“As a critical stakeholder in sports development in Nigeria and Anambra in particular, I want to congratulate Patrick Estate Onyedum for his appointment as Chairman of Anambra Sports Commission.
“His job won’t be easy because bringing sports back to live is not an easy task, he has a lot to do but he has to start with reviving grassroots sport from the primary and secondary school levels which died about eight years ago.
“What we have had is a situation where players and athletes are gathered just to go yo competitions and win medals, there is no structure on ground, so the new chairman has to draw a blueprint that will guide him, so that in three to four years, we will begin to see sustainable results,” he said.
Ezeonwuka called the chairman to activate the various Sports Associations and ensure that the technical department of the Commission were adequately manned and regularly updated with techniques and rules of their various sports.
He said the sports facilities across the state both public and privately owned were exploited for the benefit of athletes and teeming sports enthusiasts adding that he was making the Rojenny stadium available for the state.
“I want to make Rojenny Stadium available for the state, it is an Olympic stadium that has facilities for almost all Olympic events. It is sad that the facility I built about 40 years ago is idle because, previous sports managers in Anambra lacked ideas of creating activities to keep it busy.
“Use the associations to develop sports and make sure coaches are trained and retrained, use the available facilities to create activities where they exist,” he said.
Rojenny thanked Soludo for appointing Onyedum whom he described as a sportsman and urged him to provide the necessary funding to help the chairman implement his programme as sports was not a money yielding sector.
