Rear Adm. Bolaji Orederu, Admiral Superintendent of Naval Dockyard Ltd., says he will include youths of Victoria Island and Ikoyi axis in the next Admiral Superintendent Sports Competition.
Orederu made the pronouncement at the opening ceremony of the 2nd Admiral Superintendent Sports Competition holding at the Sports Complex, Naval Dockyard Limited, Victoria Island, Lagos, from Dec.10 to Dec.18.
The competition featured eight events which include Basketball, Volleyball, Five-Aside Football, Badminton, Chess, Ludo, Table Tennis and Snooker.
Also, the teams competing include Naval Dockyard Limited, Western Naval Command, Naval Doctrine Command and Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre, Nigerian Airforce Logistic Command and Dodan Barracks.
The admiral said that the competition would serve as a platform to bring youths within the dockyards catchment area closer for engagement as well as mental and physical development.
“After engaging them in the games, we can now talk to them on the dangers of drug abuse, internet fraud, prostitution among other vices.
“We will also be able to impact on them in terms of character building, personality traits as well as improve the quality of their lives,” he said.
According to Orederu, he started the competition in 2023 with only volleyball and called it the Admiral Superintendent of Naval Dockyard’s Volleyball Trophy.
“I promised to upgrade the activities this year to include more games and to the glory of God we now have eight sporting events.
“The aim of this is to get our people to relax after work because the nature of work we do at the Dockyard is heavy duty work and very tasking.
“So, this will help our soldiers and officers have proper mental balance and healthy bodies while relaxing and engaging in sports at the same time, to keep fit,” he said.
Orederu added that the competition was part of Dockyard’s activities to celebrate the end of the year among other events such as the Special Padre and Jumat Service, Dinner and Awards Night.
“So, the competition is part of a chain of activities to end the year,” he said.
Orederu said that the competition would create further avenues to increase collaboration and cooperation amongst institutions and personnel of the dockyard.
“This will help achieve shared responsibilities, interests and goals within the Navy, Armed Forces of Nigeria and the general public,” he said.
The admiral said that God had been so gracious to the Naval Dockyard, adding that the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ogalla, had supported them tremendously.
