FOLUSHO ALADE,ABUJA
Outgoing Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, OLUSHADE ADESHOLA says he is leaving the Ministry in good hands and believes the incoming Permanent Secretary, MR GABRIEL TANIMU ADUDA has all it takes to take the Ministry to another level.
Speaking to newsroom in Abuja on Monday during the official Handing Over ceremony, an emotional ADESHOLA thanked everyone that has been part of the progress made so far while highlighting the achievements of the Ministry in the areas of Sports development and Youth development,
According to him the Ministry under the able leadership of HONOURABLE SUNDAY DARE, Minister of Youth and Sports and Development, reviewed the NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY to further boost YOUTH DEVELOPMENT while other Youth focused initiatives such as the dy.ng and the vocational training scheme among many other initiatives geared toward empowering the Youths has been introduced.
Enumerating further, MR ADESHOLA highlighted the strides made in Sports including winning a bronze medal at the last WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS in DOHA, QATAR after five years of failure to achieve a podium position, a second placed finish at the 12TH ALL AFRICAN GAMES in RABAT, MOROCCO and the various qualifications already achieved by various the Sporting Federations as Nigeria prepares for the 2020 TOKYO OLYMPICS.
ADESHOLA also mentioned the ADOPTION CAMPAIGN INITIATIVE which include, ADOPT-AN ATHLETE, ADOPT-A PITCH and ADOPT-A CENTRE.
According to him, “since the ADOPTION CAMPAIGN INITIATIVE was launched by the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, MR SUNDAY DARE, the initiatives has received tremendous boost across board.
“The latest is the letter of intention from the kaduna state government under the leadership of MALLAM NASIR EL-RUFAI to renovate parts of the ahmadu bello stadium in kaduna.
“the likes of wrestling champion, odunayo adekuroye and 110metres hudler, tobi amusan has also been adopted by various individuals and organisation under the adopt-an- athlete initiate” he said
“The ministry has made commendable progress and we can only build on what we have achieved to move to the next level in line with PRESIDENT MUHAMMUDU BUHARI’S NEXT LEVEL AGENDA.
“the ministry has not recorded any in fighting nor portrayed in a bad light and the relationship with the honourable minister has been cordial” he said.
Speaking on his personal experience as a Permanent Secretary, ADESHOLA stated that he still learning on the job as the posting to the Ministry of Niger Delta will be his first assignment after being made a Permanent Secretary.
According to him ”this is my first posting as a Permanent Secretary after my appointment; therefore we have to learn on the job.
“I want to appreciate the role the service played, we were taken through retreats, we had annual retreats that trained us on what was required of us.
“the ministry has not been in the news for the wrong reasons, though there were one or two issues but we were able to resolve them” ADESHOLA concluded.
In his response, the incoming Permanent Secretary, GABRIEL TANIMU ADUDA, thanked the outgoing Permanent Secretary for the job he has done so far and promised to consolidate and work hard to take his achievements to another level.
ADUDA promised to beam the searchlight more on YOUTH DEVELOPMENT while hoping to enjoy the support of the media in the coming days.
The Handing over ceremony was attended by top officials of the Ministry of Youths and sports Developments, members of the press and well-wishers.
