Nasarawa state deputy governor, Doctor Emmanuel Akabe says sporting activities are a top priority of the state government in view of its accruing health and economic benefits to the people.

Akabe made the disclosure Tuesday during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Emir of Keffi National Badminton tournament which is currently holding at the Keffi youth centre.

The Badminton sports tournament had the participants who are mostly youths from the thirty two states of the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, commenced on Tuesday and will come to a climax on Saturday this week.

The deputy Governor, Doctor Emmanuel Agbadu Akabe, who was represented by the commissioner for youths and sports development Ambassador Lucky Isaac Yargwa, said the event was in line with the state government’s policy of promoting peace and unity through sports and commended the traditional rulers particularly the Emir of Keffi, the Andoma of Doma and the Emir of Lafia for taking the lead in promoting sporting activities in their respective domains.

The deputy Governor, maintained that sports is one of the major industries that creates employment opportunities to the unemployed youths in the society, adding that the state government under the leadership of Governor Abdullahi Sule is making arrangement to promote Badminton sports to be more popular like that of football just as he disclosed that there is ongoing screening exercise of sport players at the sports ministry Lafia in a bid to replace the over aged players, calling on the interested youth to attend the screening.

Declaring the tournament open, the emir of Keffi, doctor Shehu Chindo Yamusa the third, said the event was organized and sponsored by Keffi Emirate council to bring unity among the people as well as create Job opportunity to the youth, maintaining that the money realized during the tournament will be used to sponsor the orphans and the less privileged in the emirate, calling for support to enable the programme succeed.

Earlier, the National President of Badminton Association of Nigeria, Francis Orbihi, and the Nasarawa state Chairman of the Association, Lawal Yusuf Yashi, described Badminton as one of the sporting activities that promote unity among the people calling on the government to pay special attention just like others for the development of all.

The opening play of Badminton was between Aliyu Shehu from Niger and Ruth Ebere from Kano while Balarabe Umar from Bauchi and Zainab Alabi from Kwara state were on the opposite side where it was ended 21-18 and 21-13 that is 2-0 against Balarabe Umar and Zainab Alabi.