By NELSON DAFE, Benin City

Edo State’s sports is on the up. From winning the National Sports Festival football event, coming second in the overall medals table, to seeing a repositioning and rebranding of the two clubs (Bendel Insurance and Inneh Queens) representing the state in the national male and female leagues as true models of professional football clubs, the sporting zeitgeist in Edo State is currently filled with a general air of positivity.

A lot of the improvements made in recent years in Edo State owes a lot to the contributions of the state’s Head of Sports (Deputy Governor’s Office), Mrs Sabina Chikere, who hasbrought a high degree of organisational know-how to the running of sports in the state. An ever-present figure in the sporting revolution today in Edo state, Mrs Chikere’s stature in sports development in the state is a huge one.

Now, in the field of the Civil Service, Madam Sabina (as she is fondly called) has just been promoted to the level of Permanent Secretary in Edo State, positioning her for even more positive telling contribution to the lives of a people christened the heartbeat of Nigeria.

The Benin City Youth Club Owners Association (BYCOA), a body responsible for organising the prestigious Benin City Youth football league, has joined many in congratulating Madam Sabina on her latest promotion.

President of the association, Douglas Idahosa, toldNews Expressthat Mrs Chikere’s promotion as Permanent Secretary in Edo state is a richly deserved one and that the club owners are immensely proud of her.

“We join the people of Edo State in felicitating with Mrs Chikere on her promotion as Permanent Secretary in Edo State. She is a huge state asset and her contributions to the repositioning a sports in Edo State for the better is being felt everywhere and the Association of Benin City Youth Club Owners is immensely proud of her and full of awe for the salient ways she has impacted on sports in Edo State. Mrs Chikere’s promotion as Permanent Secretary, I’m sure, positions her, as mother of all, to makegreater strides in Edo state,” Mr Idahosa said.