ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has rewarded winners of the 2022 Nestle Milo National Secondary Schools Basketball Championship from the state.
Last month, the state shone in basketball tourney as students of the Bishop Dimeari Grammar School (BDGS), Yenagoa, won in the male category.
Their counterparts from the St Jude’s Girls Secondary School, also in Yenagoa, took the female crown at the championship held in Lagos State, making it the seventh title for St Jude’s School in the competition while the BDGS boys won it for the first time.
Both schools also produced the Most Valuable Players of the tournament.
At a reception held inside the Executive Council Chamber of the Government House in Yenagoa yesterday, Diri commended the teams for the feat and for making the state proud.
He charged them not to relent in training and that the victory should spur them to achieve greater laurels.
The governor announced a token reward of N100,000 to each of the players and an additional N50,000 each to the Most Valuable Players (MVPs).
Also rewarded were the management of the schools with N500,000 each while the coach of both teams, Tony Nelson, got N300,000 and one grade level promotion in the state’s sports council while the other coaches got N150,000 each.
Diri also directed the immediate construction of basketball courts in both schools to enable the players to train adequately.
According to him, sports is no longer only a social activity but also a source of livelihood to those who engage in it.
He advised youths in the state to emulate the players by engaging in productive ventures instead of crime.
He further noted that the feat achieved by both schools would encourage schools in rural areas to engage in sporting activities.
While presenting the victorious teams, the Commissioner for Education stated that both teams would represent Nigeria in Serbia in September this year.
