Nigeria launch sports policy

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan launched a national mobilization campaign for grassroot sports tagged "Rhythm and Play".

The Nigerian leader Thursday said plans are underway to make participating in sporting activities compulsory for all primary and secondary school pupils in the country, reports Xinhua.

The aim is to nurture athletes for the country for international competitions, he added.

According to him, the idea was a fallout of the presidential retreat on sports organised last October which was also aimed at building a worthy nation for the younger people.

"The program that we are launching today will provide young Nigerians under the age of 17 with structured programs that combine sports and play as critical learning and development tools," the president said.

He added that this initiative will revolutionize grass roots sports in Nigeria.

He said the country had done well in sports in recent times and measures were needed to be put in place to ensure that the successes recorded were sustained.

He emphasized the need to give grassroot sports development serious attention as sports was a veritable tool for fostering cohesion and nation building.