The President of the Life Youth Sports Development Initiative (LYSDI), Odikibo Solomon Odikibo, has appealed to Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, to reconstruct the Alfred Diete-Spiff Sports Complex, popularly known as the Civic Centre, to provide standard facilities for track and field athletes.
Odikibo, a former multiple medalist in long jump and high jump for Rivers State, said the state has abundant athletic talent but lacks the facilities needed to discover, train and develop young athletes.
He appealed in an exclusive interview with sports journalists shortly after a training session with young athletes under his tutelage in Port Harcourt at the weekend.
According to Odikibo, track and field sports in Rivers State risk declining as established athletes age without adequate replacements, while efforts to discover and groom new talents remain insufficient.
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“I am passionately appealing to the state government, through the Ministry of Sports, to reconstruct the Civic Centre to accommodate track and field facilities as it was before,” he said.
“Young athletes are eager to do sports but have no facilities to train with. We all know that without training facilities, no athlete will improve, so there is a need to bring the Civic Centre back to its original state.”
Odikibo said LYSDI is a self-sponsored grassroots initiative established out of his passion for discovering hidden talents, particularly among secondary school students.
He recalled that school sports competitions and tournaments played a significant role in identifying young athletes during his active years.
“In my days of active sports, there were lots of secondary school sports competitions and tournaments; it was there they used to discover athletes. It was from school sports that I was also discovered. I did high jump, long jump, and hurdles,” he added.
