The National Institute of Sports, a leading sports training institution in Nigeria has rolled out plans to celebrate its Silver Jubilee anniversary even as it planned to organize the convocation for no fewer than one thousand five hundred graduates who had completed their training programme some years ago.
Some of the plans on the card to mark the Silver Jubilee celebration of the institute are: Anniversary Lecture/Gala & Dinner, NIS Awards of Sporting Excellence, Convocation/ Lecture and Investiture of Honorary Fellows of the Institute as well as Recognition Awards for Sports Journalism.
A statement by the Director General of NIS, Dr. Kingdom Chukwudi Eke revealed that the Silver Jubilee celebration is being organized in line with NIS vision “to be a first class institute transforming Nigeria and sustaining it as a world leader in sports”, adding that this initiative will no doubt make a clearer and loud statement about NIS resolve before all its stakeholders.
The Director General further disclosed that the institute has in the past years of existent being consistent and committed to delivering on its statutory mandate as it has produced over 15,000 manpower in sports who have continued to place Nigeria on the global sports arena winning medals, laurels and awards.
His words,“NIS graduates are prominently engaged in services at National, State and local government levels as well as clubs” noting that a sizeable number are in ECOWAS sub-regions and other parts of Africa coaching and managing talents who are breaking barriers in global sports events”.
“We have produced graduates who have attained their career peak and hauled laurels, awards and medals for their distinguished and outstanding sporting feats”, the Director General hinted.
Consequently, he said, “in a patriotic effort to take stock and celebrate the past 25 years; we have put together a number of very exciting programmes and events to mark this epoch and document for posterity”.
Continuing, he said, “these includes but not limited to training, workshop and exhibition which will hold on Thursday, January 17th, 2019, a combined convocation (2006 – 2018) ceremony which holds Friday, January 18th, 2019 with Fellowships and Awards to selected and deserving personalities and organisations at a Gala night on Saturday, 19th January next year”.
He said that the epochal event which is also aimed at repositioning and rebranding NIS is intended to resonate throughout the length and breadth of the country and beyond, adding that it will evoke a memory that stakeholders will live with for a long time to come.
NIS is a statutory agency of the federal government set up for the sports research, training and development of sports personnel in Nigeria. Though established in 1972, the institute was only upgraded to a full-fledged parastatal through the 1992 decree. Since then, the institute has been at the vanguard of sports training, research and developments.
