Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, has advised the 57 athletes, who secured sponsorship under the Lagos State Adopt –A- Talent Sports Programme, to combine sports and education, if they hoped to get to the heights as sportsmen and women.
Fashola stated this at the unveiling of the athletes, which took place at the Lagos House, Ikeja, on Thursday.
"Sport does not last forever; you will be lucky if you are still competing at 30. And that would need a life of discipline, good diet, good medical care and the one you cannot control, which is major injuries. If it happens, there is nothing you can do about it. And that is why it is important that you must have an education first," Fashola said.
He added, "The bane of Nigerian sports is fixation on immediate results, which doesn't last and I believe we don't need to cheat to do well in sports. That is why Adopt-A-Talent Sports Programme is a futuristic project designed to develop the talent of our young athletes and the same time give them the chance to excel in their academic pursuit."
Fashola adopted 20 of the athletes; the Lagos State deputy governor adopted 10 while the state's Chief of Staff and the Sports Commissioner adopted two athletes in table tennis.
