The 2nd edition of the Arugbo Gold Cup, a sports festival for football and boxing sponsored by the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government of Ogun State begins today and runs through December 29, the organiser, Felix Okugbe has disclosed.

However the highlight of the briefing to usher in the 2013 edition of the competition which was held at the headquarters of the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government in Ota was the admonishing of the career civil servants of the council by Onilogbo of Ilogbo, Oba Samuel Ojugbele.

The traditional ruler who is expected to be the Royal Father at the ceremony called on the civil servants “not to kill the competition which serves not only to discover talents but to help as a source of income for the parents of the athletes.”

“As you know, politicians come and go but the career civil servants are always on ground, so I am appealing to them not to kill this competition because that is what they always do. This competition helps to engage our youths and also serves as a means to earn an income by the families of the athletes,” he stressed.

Earlier, the chairman of the council, Comrade Rotimi Rahmon who, as a student leader, used sports to fight cultism, said he decided to back the competition because he believes that youths should be taken off the streets and engaged in sports.

“If they identify the talents in themselves, they will be useful to themselves, the local government, the State and the country. We want to take the youths off the streets and engage them in sports to improve themselves. Sports is the only unifying factor that can bring everybody together irrespective of political, religious or ethnic linings,” he stressed.

He however added that for now the local government is funding the programme and hope to do it very well in order to attract corporate bodies. He hopes that talents discovered at the championship would be  groomed for clubs who could use them.

“We want to start the programme and do it well so that companies will come and collaborate with us. The Local Government is open to collaborate companies to take it to the next level,” he said, assuring that, “we hope to make it an annual competition and hope that the regime coming after us will continue with the programme.”