The tough times, occasioned by the state of the economy that has induced hardship on citizens, is one that calls for strategic measures, particularly from the leadership of each state, to turn around current challenges into opportunities for its development and growth. And sports is undeniably one area that offers a goldmine.

Today, there are countless youths roaming the streets of major towns and cities in Delta state unemployed. Majority of these youths, in a bid to make ends meet, have resorted to online fraud schemes or turn 'agberos' or thugs to prominent community leaders. A visit to most hotels in town will reveal these youths make up a large number of lodgers (This is a topic for another day) because of the neglect of government not strategically engaging their skills productively. Remember, an idle mind is the Devil's workshop.

If there is one sector youths are known for, it is in the arena of sports. The other is education. However, at present, the incentives of sports is fast eroding away as there are lack of sporting facilities and no plans by the government to boost its growth. While there exist a ministry of sports (Delta State Ministry of Sports Development), such ministry only exist in name as its operations have been politicised, making it a redundant entity. 

The Delta state and local government need to critically take a bold look into the oil mine of sports. Yes, I believe that sports could be the next big thing to crude oil. Afterall, humans are the most important asset that help to drive every other resources. The talents and skills of the youths need to be tapped into to root out poverty, unemployment, and crime, and to open doors of opportunities for wealth creation that can in turn contribute positively to the state's growth and development.

And one way the government can do this is to rejig sports at the grassroots level to make it become a part of the youths. It should annually allocate adequate funds and create programmes for grassroots sporting activities. I don't know if such competition is in existence, but it should not be out of place for there to be a primary school tournament, a college/secondary school tournament, a higher institution tounament, a local government tournament, a district tournament, building up to a state tournament, with awards of uplifting prizes.

When government demonstrate interest in sports, this could in the long term help to boost stakeholders confidence to invest in that sector by establishing sports academies and even organising rural-based sporting competitions, and it will also become a revenue-base for the government.

Moreover, these sporting competitions when sustained annually could lead to boosting tourism and attracting scouts from all over the country and the world to use these competitions as an avenue to hunt for talented youths to partake in global sporting activities, which could bring about foreign direct earnings. But first, the government need to demonstrate the zeal to engage the youths in sports.

Therefore, the Delta state government as led by Rt. Hon. Governor Sheriff Oborevwori should set up a committee to come up with a well structured thought-out blueprint for youths engagement in sports, while the state's ministry of sports development should be saddled to oversee the execution of such a plan.

Sports is one area that is yet to be tapped into by not only the Delta state government but other state government as well. I believe that there are a lot of potentials lying waste in our youths as it relates to sports. The state has always performed well in the national sports festival competition. How much more will the impact be if sports become more than a once-in-a-year competition? 

And so, as the government is determined to empower the youths with entrepreneurial training ventures, it should not forget the role that sports can also play in not only creating new champions but can play a positive role in the growth and development of the state in the long-term.

#penglobaldiscourse