Commissioner for Youths and Sports in Plateau State, Musa Ashoms, has commended Team Plateau for emerging as the overall best northern state team in the just concluded National Sports Festival in Ogun State.

Mr Ashoms said on Friday in Abeokuta that the athletes had done the state proud and made Governor Caleb Mutfwang happy.

Plateau State finished 12th on the final medal table with 8 gold, 13 silver and 26 bronze, bringing the total of medals to 47.

The commissioner said that as much as they would have loved to win more gold medals, they were contented with what they had.

He said, “You’ve done us proud. The governor is happy. Yesterday, he called me and asked, “Ashoms, how many medals have we got so far? “I said about 47, and he replied, “That’s beautiful!” We’re even topping the northern charts—that’s something to be proud of. We want to say congratulations to our athletes. We also want to congratulate the government, the governor, and the people of Plateau State. We have enjoyed their massive support. In the last Sports Festival, we had only about four medals. Today, we have multiplied that number. We hope that going forward, the bronze medals we have won will be converted to silver and gold.’’

Ms Ashoms stated that such would only happen if the stakeholders returned to the drawing board to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.

According to him, they learnt valuable lessons in Ogun and believe that by the time they get to Enugu, more gold medals and more laurels will come their way.

He stated, “We are not at the bottom—we’re somewhere in the middle, very close to the top. And we hope it gets even better so that we top the charts next time. Remember, this is an open competition. Professionals come from all over. So, to have competed at this level shows that our athletes have done well. It’s gratifying to know that some gold medals won by other states were won by sons and daughters of Plateau State. That tells you we are a force to reckon with in Nigerian sports. At the same time, it’s great to see that athletes not originally from Plateau State are also winning medals for us. This is the essence of a national sports festival—unity. When we engage like this, we become more united.’’

He thanked everyone who participated and raised the banner of Plateau in Abeokuta and the other centres.

The commissioner also thanked sports journalists for projecting the state’s achievements.

He assured them of continuous synergy and collaboration to ensure that sporting activities receive the coverage they deserve.

(NAN)