Approximately 10,000 delegates from the federal, state, and local government civil service are anticipated to compete in various sporting activities during the 42nd edition of the Federal Civil Services Games, which will be held in Niger state from December 4th to 14th, 2023.
Salisu Abubakar, the state’s Head of Civil Service (HoS), made the announcement immediately after the start of the bi-monthly morning exercise at the Legbo Kutigi International Center in Minna, the state capital.
The Federation’s Head of Service gave Niger State the permission to host the games, which was followed by a direction from Governor Mohammed Umar Bago to institute bi-monthly physical fitness activities to keep the state’s workers in shape for the tournament.
According to him, the decision was made to aid senior cadre civil officers in being physically and mentally competent to accomplish their responsibilities without excuses.
” We are encouraging interested civil servants interested in different sporting activities to prepare for the civil service games. The state is eager to reclaim its top place in medals winning starting with the coming civil service games.
“Many years ago, Niger State used to be among the tops when it comes to winning medals in different sporting events, but the name of the state soon disappeared in the ladder table.
” This informed the state to bid to host the next civil service games and it was graciously approved by the Head of Service of the Federation,” he noted.
Abubakar further revealed that the state is also looking at the socio-economic benefits it stands to gain from hosting the one week event.
The sporting events billed for competition by delegates for medals in various categories include football, handball, athletics, squash, karate, judo, scrabble, boxing, badminton, tennis, chess and basketball.