By Akpan David, Calabar
At the ongoing 2nd edition of the National Council on Sports holding in Calabar, Cross River State, Abia State has urged other states to emulate its renewed commitment to developing sports from the school level upward.
Director of Sports, Abia State, Comrade Obioma George, stated that Abia remains the only state in Nigeria currently organizing comprehensive secondary and tertiary school sports competitions.
According to him, the state has not only revived sports in secondary schools but has also expanded its efforts to tertiary institutions.
“We have commenced the first edition of the Abia State Tertiary Institutions Games, which is ongoing. We have returned sports to the schools and to the grassroots. This is why we do not experience an exodus of athletes from the state,” he said.
George lamented the decline of school sports across Nigeria, noting that the system previously produced many national stars.
“I am a product of school sports. Why should we all graduate from school sports only for that pathway to shut down? That is not how sports development works. In Abia, we have accepted the challenge to revive it fully.”
He disclosed that several national sports federations, including the Nigerian Olympic Committee, now frequently hold programmes in Abia due to its reenergized sports sector.
George credited the progress to the strong support of Governor Alex Otti, who he said has personally prioritized the resuscitation of sports since assuming office two years ago.
“We hosted the world at the Paralympic Games. In October 2025, we hosted the first-ever West Africa International Paralympic Games and the All-Africa Paralympic Games. In the same month last year, the governor hosted all Abia athletes, giving them ₦74 million and a coaster bus.”
Abia athletes also made national history when they won Nigeria’s first gold medal at the Paralympics, said George.
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