By Gbenga Sodeinde
One of Nigeria’s youngest female Olympians, Esther Tosin Oribamise has urged parents and government to prioritize education for every girl child and also encourage females’ participation in sports.
While featuring in an online sensitization program to commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child, the graduate of Human Kinetics from the Ekiti State University said its an onerous task for girls to combine education and sports.
She said the importance of education and sports for the girl child could not be over emphasized adding that parental supports
The online programme held Monday October 10th on Nairasports facebook page afforded Oribamise the opportunity to speak on the support she got from her parents when she started her sports career at a tender age of 8 as she urged parents to always give moral support to every child either male or female who is interested in sports.
She recalled the consistent support from her father since she ventured into the game of table tennis while thanking her late coach , Olabode Ajayi who discovered , nurtured and mentored her to stardom.
She urged the media to also accord premium to the coverage and reportage to female sports as its given to male sports adding that sponsorship and endorsement of female sports personalities were also necessary to motivate females’ participation in sports.
On the 2021 International Girl Child Day, Tosin Oribamise called for more collaborations between all stakeholders in sports to encourage female participation in sports by setting goals for them to achieve and giving them the self- confidence that nothing is impossible to achieve with foresight, dedication and diligence.
Other females who featured on the online programme to commemorate the 2021 International Day of the Girl Child held on October 11 every year as organized by the United Nations were Women Football Expert, Ayishatu Zakaria Ali from Ghana, Sport Journalist and content Creator and Latifat Ohiosumuan from Nigeria
The programme designed by Nigeria’s sports platform, Naira sports was set to sensitize over one thousand girls on the importance of Education and Sports.
