Abia partners LaLiga to empower youths through sports

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti. Photo: File

The Abia State Government has announced a strategic partnership with LaLiga and the Spanish Embassy in Nigeria to host “LaLiga Week in Abia State.” Scheduled to run between November and December, the initiative will feature a series of sports activities and activations designed to engage local talent, build skills, and open up global opportunities for the state’s youth.

Briefing newsmen in Umuahia on Monday on the outcome of the week’s State Executive Council meeting chaired by the state governor, Alex Otti, the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, said the ministry recently visited the correctional centres in Aba and Umuahia as part of its welfare and rehabilitation agenda.

Kanu said, “Abia State Ministry of Youths and Sports recently paid a visit to the correctional centres in Aba and Umuahia, in line with the Ministry’s broad welfare and rehabilitation agenda to assess the legal, health, and welfare.

“The outreach identified cases requiring legal aid, board assistance, medical and family support for 20 inmates who are being prepared for pre-school, non-residential certificate exams.”

Kanu further stated, “Also, skilled acquisition programmes were assessed during the visit, with shortages of tools, equipment, and materials identified as major challenges to effective rehabilitation”.

On sports, the commissioner disclosed that a LaLiga Week in Abia State had been scheduled to hold from November through December.

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He said, “During the week, there will be a range of activities and activations in collaboration with La Liga and the Spanish Embassy here in Nigeria. This programme provides one of the strategic ways of empowering our youths through sports”.

On health, the commissioner informed that about 3,003,250 nets would be distributed across the state during the 2026 Abia Mass Insecticide-Treated Net Campaign, which would be formally launched on Friday.

The exercise, he said, was a collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Malaria Elimination Programme and the Abia State Government through the State Ministry of Health.

Kanu also informed journalists about the construction of two roads in Aba, stating, “The first one is the Old Express Road, which measures 3.955 kilometres, and the Urata Road, which measures 3.09 kilometres.

“Work has already commenced at the sites prior to the formal flag-off ceremony. These roads are part of the Abia State Integrated Infrastructure Development Project, ABSIID-sponsored road projects in the state.

“A lot more of such ADB-sponsored roads will be flagged off in due course”, adding, “Currently, there are 53 direct level locations in the state where work is going on.”