By Bruce Ijirigho
When I was invited to Calabar to meet with Cross River State governor, Senator Liyel Imoke in June 2009, I was excited but did not know what to expect.

However, during our forty minutes discussion, what I found was a simple, down to earth human being who cares very deeply about the plight of his people, especially the youths whom he constantly referred to as the “abandoned generation”.

He was specially pained by the hopeless state of the youths and the poor state of sports in Cross River State and Nigeria in general. He told me that “Cross River State was at or near the bottom in most national sports competitions, yet able bodied youths abound everywhere”.

He continued, “at the Olympic Games, IAAF Championships, and other international competitions the situation is the same for Nigeria; even in athletics and boxing where we used to do well, Nigeria is no longer reckoned with.

“If Jamaica and other smaller countries of the world are doing so well in sports what is our problem and why can’t we do better with our huge youth population”?

Finally, he said, “I want to use one stone to kill two birds. My desire is to establish a program that will allow the teeming youths in our primary and secondary schools to channel their excess energy into competitive sports while also creating the environment for them to excel in their education.

That way we can produce state, national and international champions who are also well educated and can contribute to Cross River State and national development.

Governor Imoke’s Sports revolution has achieved modest results within the two years of its existence.  For instance, Cross River State placed 10th at the National School Sports Festival (NSSF) held in 2009, with 8 gold, 8 silver and 7 bronze medals.

That year, the state won only one bronze medal in athletics. In 2010, the CSDP resulted in a modest reversal of fortune at the NSSF held in Kano, when Cross River State moved up to 6th place overall with 16 gold, 18 silver and 12 bronze medals.  In 2010, athletics alone (a key sport in the CSDP) won 7 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze medals while chess and wrestling produced the bulk of the remaining medals.

Work continued intensively in 2011 with the addition of swimming and weightlifting to the CSDP at the insistence of the Deputy Governor, Barrister Effiok Cobham.  By the NSSF held in Calabar from November 14 to 24, 2011, it became obvious to all and sundry that indeed Governor Imoke’s sports programme is a revolution in the making and the right model for state and national sports development.

At the end of the NSSF 2011, Cross River State emerged overall winner and national youth sports champions for the first time in the history of the state, with 114 gold, 104 silver and 100 bronze medals. No athletes were bought from any other state and all CRS athletes were bonafide students within the stringent age limits of the National School Sports Federation, which Governor Imoke mandated us to strictly adhere to.

At the NSSF 2011, CRS track and field team dominated the rest of the nation in all age categories by winning 42 gold, 28 silver and 15 bronze medals, while the rest of the 35 states shared 24 gold, 38 silver and 51 bronze.

Also, CRS dominated swimming by winning 26 gold, 17 silver and 13 bronze medals. Chess and wrestling contributed most of the remaining medals.  In two years, Governor Imoke’s CSDP has taken CRS from near bottom to the top in national youth sports development.

In the two years that the CSDP has been in existence, several talented boys and girls have been discovered at the various age categories and they are being groomed to represent and bring honour to Nigeria in the near future.  The CSDP is being implemented in all 18 local government areas of the state and it is being actively supported by the LGA chairmen.

This is a programme that is positively touching the lives of tens of thousands of youths and their parents annually.  It is a human capital development programme that takes the minds of restive youths off criminal tendencies and channels them into activities that build self esteem and develop them into great citizens of tomorrow.

Since Imoke came into office as governor, Calabar has become the favorite destination for major sports competitions in Nigeria.

Calabar was one of the host cities for the 2009 U-17 World Cup.  Calabar hosted the Mobil All Nigeria Athletics Championship in 2010 and subsequently won the five-year hosting right from 2011 and 2015, at the sum of  N250 million. Calabar hosted the 2011 national school sports festival, and has won the hosting rights for the 2014 National Sports Festival.

Governor Imoke has designated six schools (two in each senatorial district) as centers for sports excellence in the state.  State of the art sports equipment has been procured by the governor for grooming discovered talent in various sports and will be delivered to these schools before May 15, 2012.

Thanks to the clear vision of Governor Liyel Imoke, the meticulous planning and implementation of the programme by Kima Sports Development Consultants and the commissioner for sports, Raymond Obeten and his counterpart in the education ministry, Professor Offiong who have worked tirelessly to ensure that the programme is a success.

We can conclude that all is not lost yet for Nigeria and “there is light at the end of the tunnel”.