The President of the federation of Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), Malam Ibrahim Mohammed has called for the identification and nurturing of budding athletes to replace the aging ones.
Malam Ibrahim Mohammed, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.
Mohammed warned that Nigeria’s performance in athletics will continue to dwindle as long as young and talented sports men and women are not nurtured to replace the aging ones. Speaking, Mohammed said “Our athletes that are getting old may not have the best ones that will replace them because by the time you give the country the chance to bring out the younger ones to showcase their talents.
Continuing, he said the country would have abundant athletes that we can select from and train to replace the old athletes in the future. “So, obviously, the effect of this on the country is that in the very near future Nigeria’s performance will go down because the position of the country is not like what it used to be in the 1970’s and 80’s, where the country was known all over the world when we talk of sports.’’
He made this assertion on the 2015 edition of the Nigerian school sports festival held in Otukpo, Benue state, where Cross River emerged the overall winner.
