From Hassan Ibrahim, Bauchi
Bauchi State Male Football team emerged winner of the football competition of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) maiden Secondary Schools tournament after defeating the Gombe State team by 2 goals to 1.
The final match, which was held at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Memorial Stadium (ATBS) came after the five days sports meet organised by NEDC aimed at reviving sports in schools.
The first half of the match ended goalless but on resumption, Bauchi team scored the opener, a few minutes later, it capitalised on an error by the goalkeeper and the defenders to score the second goal.
The Gombe team thereafter piled up pressure on the Bauchi defence causing a foul, which resulted in a penalty and was neatly converted by the Gombe boys to reduce the tally.
Efforts by the two teams to increase the goal tally were thwarted by the two defence lineup dragging the match to end 2 goals to 1 in favour of the Bauchi State team.
The six States of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe had participated in the football event of the tournament, which was on knockout basis.
At the end of the match, medals and a giant trophy were presented to the winners and the losers.
NEDC had kicked off the median grand finale of Secondary Schools Sport tournament to discover talents among youths in the six states of the sub-region to nurture them in professional sporting careers.
The tournament, which consisted of Football, Basketball, Athletics, Table Tennis and Lawn Tennis had the theme: “Promoting Unity, Peace and Regional for the promotion of sports for youth development.”
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NEDC Mohammed Goni Alkali, at the opening ceremony had said that sports have been proven to be an effective tool for bringing communities together and fostering social cohesion and peace building.
Represented by NEDC Head of Scholarship Bar Khalifa Lawal, Alkali said: “Given the situation in the North East region, where there are many challenges of mistrust and suspicion, sports can be leveraged in bringing the fractured relationships across social, cultural and religious divides within the communities and inculcating a sense of shared identity and fellowship amongst youths in the region. This is why this tournament and competition are organised to promote unity, peace and regional integration.”
According to Alkali, the purpose of the tournament is to organise competitions where talents can be discovered and nurtured with established institutions and to provide youths with local and international opportunities to engage in professional sporting careers for enhanced income.
Also, Bauchi State Commissioner of Youth and Sports, Muhammad Salis Gamawa, thanked NEDC for selecting Bauchi to host the grand finale of the tournament and appealed to the Commission to support and hasten the establishment of the Bauchi Sports Academy for the development of sports across the sub-region.
