By Okey Ndiribe
Local athletes preparing for the forthcoming 10th All Africa Games scheduled to take place in Mozambique next September will now do all their training in Nigeria.

This decision followed an appeal made to the leadership of all the sports federations by the Minister and Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC) Yusuf Suleiman that the local athletes should discard the idea of foreign training because of the present poor financial condition of the Commission.

Speaking to sports writers after a meeting with Presidents of the sports federations, Suleiman said the foreign camping was discarded because the NSC could not afford the financial implication of embarking on such a trip.

Suleiman assured that all the athletes would be paid all their entitlements adding that the goal of the contingent to finish among the top three is still realizable because of the quality of athletes the country could boast of.

According to him, “the country had a lot of first class facilities where the athletes could train for an event like the All Africa Games, “because it is our intention to develop our own facilities; the only thing we need to do is to make sure that we maintain them effectively and when we do that, there will be nothing to worry about”.

He further revealed that he will soon convene a meeting of major stakeholders to find a way of developing sports in the country adding that there is no way sports can develop without a proper and detailed manner of carrying out the road map for that to happen.

The NSC boss also reiterated the mandate given to the National Institute for Sports (NIS) by his predecessor Prof. Taoheed Adedoja to relocate to Abuja as soon possible, adding that he will not cancel the directive because the former minister must have done that with reasons.

Said he: “I met with the governing board of the NIS about the directive for them to relocate to Abuja; they claimed that their relocation will be counter-productive, but I’m not here to rock the boat, I’m not here to overturn that directive unless they give me a superior argument, until then, that directive stands.”