Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has said he would have loved to take his bicycle to work but for the insecurity in the state.
The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, however, maintained his administration remained committed to the development of sports in the state.
Soludo, while speaking in Awka on the occasion of his 100 days in office as the state governor, described sports as a robust part of his manifesto, adding that he was passionate about sports.
He said, “We had planned to kick-start sporting activities the next day after our inauguration, but for insecurity, that was not possible. As a matter of fact, I have my bicycle and I would have loved to use it to work, but I have been advised to shelve that for some time.”
He added that the prevailing security situation in the state had not made it possible for his government to implement his plans for sports.
He said, “My administration is willing to reignite the tradition. To be honest with you, we are very passionate about sports. If you look at our manifesto, we spoke very eloquently on it. We believe in the sports economy; it is an area that we need to exploit and explore.
The governor promised that he would not only establish a state-owned football club but also develop sports from the grassroots, with the revival of the moribund school sports competitions in the state.
“I played football and got a scar from it. You preempted us on giving the state a football team. Give us some time, we have just spent 100 days, a lot will still happen.
“We will not only have a football team, we are going to revive sports from the roots to complement private sector efforts,” the governor stated.
