Home SPORTS I Won’t Tolerate 17 Year Old Being Presented As Youth At Kwara...

I Won’t Tolerate 17 Year Old Being Presented As Youth At Kwara Youth Games – Minister

FCT Minister Bello 5

“This is a youth game and we want our youths to develop, not the 17 years old that has four children. In FCT, we want to be factual. We want to be real. We don’t want to go with cheats.”

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello gave this warning today, Wednesday when he bade farewell to the FCT Contingent to the National Youths Games scheduled to commence on Friday in Ilorin, Kwara State. He was represented at the occasion by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye.

The minister stressed that it is the intention of his administration to ‘catch them young’ to ensure that the FCT and the country at large develop formidable athletes for international competitions like the Olympic games.

He urged the athletes to go to Kwara and win medals, saying “that is why we have tried as much as possible to provide you with all that is necessary to make you comfortable here and in Ilorin. So, you should try all your best. You are doing this for yourself, for FCT and for Nigeria. We want to catch you when you are young and we want to make sure that we also motivate you to excel.”

The Minister also warned against the use of drugs; saying: “the use of drugs will motivate you today to win but your health will fail tomorrow.”

“So, for your own good, don’t go there and take drugs so that you can win. Go there and do everything naturally. Use your natural talents, your skills and all that have been taught you to win medals for FCT.”

He assured that the FCT Administration would continue to support youth sports development in line with the Change Agenda of the Federal Government.

The Minister also promised to reward all those that excel at the games accordingly.

The FCT contingent is going to Ilorin with 82 persons comprising of Athletes, officials as well as the medical team. They are expected to participate in 9 out of 12 games namely: Athletics, Badminton, Chess, Karate, Table Tennis, Tennis, Taekwondo, Cricket and wrestling.

Meanwhile, the minister has approved the constitution of the FCT Land Use and Allocation Committee (LUAC) in line with the provisions of the Land Use Act 1978.

The minister who received the Commandant of the National Defense College, Rear Admiral Sunday Alade who paid him a working visit in his office, said that that the 12-member Land Use and Allocation Committee is to be chaired by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye.

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Accordingly, the Committee is expected to identify land available for possible allocation within the Territory, process requests and advise the FCT Minister.

He said that the constituted committee would also advise the Minister on matters connected with the management of land, resettlement of persons affected by the revocation of rights of occupancy, as well as determine disputes as to the amount of compensation payable for improvement on land.

According to him, the Committee is to ensure equity, transparency and due process in all land allocation in the Federal Capital Territory.

The minister said that members of the Committee include the General Counsel/Secretary, Legal Services Secretariat; Secretary, Area Council Services Secretariat; Directors of Engineering Services, Resettlement & Compensation, Urban & Regional Planning, Survey & Mapping as well as Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS).

Others are the Special Assistants to the Hon. Minister and the Permanent Secretary; while the Director of Land Administration is a member/secretary to the committee.

Muhammad Bello however said that all new land allocations would be tied to development of infrastructure like power, access roads, telecommunication ducts as well as sewer lines to ensure that the time between allocation and development is reduced considerably.

On the Commandant’s request for the support of the Minister to establish a Secondary School at the Defense College Barack in Ushafa, in Bwari Area Council, Malam Bello promised to assist, even though it would be funded by the Defense College.

He has therefore directed the Department of Urban and Regional Planning to identify a suitable plot within the vicinity of the Barrack for the establishment of the planned school in conformity with the Land Use and the Abuja Master Plan.

Speaking earlier, the Commandant of the National Defense College, Rear Admiral Sunday Alade said that the College is the highest military institution in the country that trains officers from the rank of Colonel and above, top civil servants, Para-military as well as officers from friendly countries.

Admiral Alade stated that currently the College has 135 participants with 13 countries participating with mix of military and civilian population. [myad]

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