Use Sports To Keep Youths Out Of Criminalities, FG Urged
The federal government has been urged to use sporting activities to keep the youths out of crime and other social vices in the society.
Prof Sunday Elom, vice-chancellor, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State, gave the advice in Abakaliki after his appointment as patron of South-east University Games Association (SEUGA).
He said sports aside from keeping people fit, has become a source of employment for the youth and means of being positively engaged, thereby reducing crime and criminalities in the society.
On the proposal by SEUGA to host a female football competition next month, Prof Elom promised to look into the requests of the association, saying his University is on the verge of building a sports complex where both staff and students will have a place for physical exercise and other sporting activities.
Speaking earlier, the vice president of the Nigerian Universities Games Association (NUGA), Emeka Ogbu, described AE-FUNAI as the epicenter of sports development in the South-east zone.
He said the University was just 10 years old, yet it has hosted many sports competitions under the aegis of South-east Universities Games Association, ascribing it to the favourable disposition of the Vice-Chancellor to sports and sporting activities.
He maintained that as the then deputy vice-chancellor (Academic), Prof. Elom also played pivotal roles in ensuring that SUEGA held some of its sports competitions in the University, adding that now he is the Vice-Chancellor, he was not in doubt that he would do more.