Date: 2016-09-03

Former Nigeria tale tennis captain, Kasali Lasisi, who owns a table tennis academy in Kwara State, has partnered with the state's ministry of education and other agencies to spread the sport to the primary and secondary schools in the state.

Lasisi said through the Kasali Lasisi Table Tennis Academy, he would be discovering table tennis talents in every primary and secondary school in the state in partnership with the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board and the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development.

The former international, who said Nigeria's poor outing at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games necessitated his decision, said a return to schools and grassroots sports will prevent such outings from the country in the future.

He told our correspondent on the telephone that his academy has mapped out plans on how to engage interested pupils on the basics of the sport after school hours. He said the programme would commence during the summer holidays, which will end in September.

"Sports is a veritable tool for development in any serious country. Nigeria should not be left out in the scheme of how things should be properly done," he said.

"When we return to the grassroots and schools, such poor outings as we had at the Olympics this year would be avoided. This move is to contribute my own quota to the development of table tennis in Kwara and from there we can expand to other states of the country."

The academy, which was formed in 2014, would begin the execution of the programme in the state capital, Ilorin, before spreading to the other local government areas.

Lasisi, however, called for the assistance and support of the Local Governments Councils, corporate individuals and organisations to ensure a smooth running of the programme.

He said, "Discovering players will be nothing when there is no competitions for them to take part in, we need assistance in the area of competitions and others from corporate organisations and individuals."