Table Tennis Star Aruna Quadri Wants To End Crime Among Nigerian Youths

Nigerian table tennis player, Aruna Quadri, has expressed his desire to give back to the society by taking table tennis to the streets and schools to catch the younger ones.

Quadri, who competed for Nigeria at the Olympics spoke during his visit to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on Monday.

According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Taiwo.Adisa, Aruna, during the visit, appreciated Makinde for his support towards sports development, citing the remodelled Lekan Salami Stadium and other stadia in the state.

He said he was proud to be an indigene of the state while also encouraging the youths to get involved in sporting activities to reduce crime rate.

He said, “I am very happy for this opportunity of meeting you, which I have been looking for, for more than 10 years. I will like to thank you for the good things you have been doing in the area of sports development in Oyo State – for example, the remodelled Lekan Salami Stadium.

“The new face of the stadium has never happened before. So, it is a great success during your time.

“Through the sport of table tennis, I have been able to make my family proud and put food on the table. I am very happy and proud to be an indigene of the state.

“Over the years, we have been supporting different kids from different parts of the country, especially the cadets and junior cadets. We have been able to donate some equipment to Oyo State table tennis players through the Sports Council here and some other parts of the zonal Sports Council.

“I thought of taking this to the higher level by giving back to the society in a very big way – I mean taking table tennis to schools, streets and encouraging our youths in order to reduce the crime rate.

“I want to share a very vital message that it is possible to combine education and sports. I also want to encourage youths on the street that through sports, they can have a better future rather than roaming about.”

The governor said his administration would not relent in promoting sports talents, saying Nigerian tennis player, Sarah Adegoke, is in Spain to begin her professional career.

Makinde said, “It may be an appropriate time for me to mention that Sarah Adegoke, who won g old for Oyo State in the last National Sports Festival, is now in Europe, Spain to be precise, to get taken over by a proper professional so that she can launch her professional career.

“We are also in the process of doing the same thing for Mubaraq. He is a 13-years-old and we are also sending him to Europe. I did this with personal funds, because we didn’t have any budget to support that.”