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7 July 2009
Abuja — The 13th General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) opened in Abuja on yesterday. Attended by its 53 members, the meeting was declared open by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan.
Also in attendance was the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Dr Jacques Rogge, as well as an Under-Secretary General of the UN, Mr Wilfried Lemke.
Lemke is the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace. Declaring the meeting open, Jonathan said that Nigeria was committed to providing sports infrastructure within the limits of its resources.
He commended the IOC for introducing the Youth Olympic Games which will debut in Singapore next year and expressed hope that Nigeria would attend the inaugural Games.
The vice president said that the games would offer the youth great opportunities to compete at the global level and prepare them for more opportunities.
He said that the values of olympism extended beyond the sports arena and that it presented a world of opportunities to mankind.
The meeting will feature elections into ANOCA offices. Representatives of the 2016 Olympics are also attending the Congress. They are expected to make their presentations during the two-day meeting. The bidding cities are Chicago, Madrid, Rio De Janeiro and Tokyo.
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