It was jubilation galore in Abuja after winners of the FCT school sports festival dry-run were rewarded
The winners include pupil and student athletes from various primary and secondary schools who excelled at the sporting competitions.
They won prizes mainly in Athletics and Football events.
At the award presentation, President of Ratels Sports Development Foundation (RSDF), Barr. Paul Edeh, expressed delight that the festival which began as a dream with the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has become a reality with the conclusion of the dry-run event.
“Today is not a speech making day but to express first our gratitude to the FCT administration for trusting us to be able to undertake such a huge task and we are happy because today we are not here to give a wrong account but to give a worthy account for that trust you in us.
“I have not even looked at what we spent in the budget but I think we spent N5 million which was solely funded by RSDF and not from any outsider. Indeed, some of the take home and the benefits derived from the dry run are many but I will just highlight about 7 points.
“There are the discovery of youngsters, the award of scholarships to exceptional students by RSDF, the enthusiasm of schools and students towards education and sports was built, the promotion of good health of students through sports was achieved, students were motivated to take sports seriously and the promotion of grassroots sports development was achieved.”
Barr. Edeh commended the tireless effort of the joint planning committee and FCT administration, with the hope of full scale sports festival in September 2023.
While appreciating the athletes for their feat, Secretary for Education, FCT, Sani Dahir EL-Katuzu, commended the sponsor of the festival for bringing out the hidden talents among the students.
“I’m really excited you have done well and i want to believe that this engagement will continue and even after I have exited from the office. I congratulate the winners for the feat,” he said.
A total of 50 schools from across FCT participated in the festival.