The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Clement Kofi Humado has asserted that it is high time Ghana engaged her youth in programmes and activities geared towards inculcating in them a greater sense of discipline, patriotism and unity of purpose. The minister made the assertion when he launched the revived National Sports Festival at the Media centre of the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium in Accra on Friday. He described the National Sports Festival now National Unity Games as an avenue for the unearthing of talents, who in previous years rose to national and international prominence in their various sports disciplines, adding that, its collapse for the past seven years is partly to blame for the recent disappointments in international competitions. “The National Sports Festival has a proud history of unearthing talents who eventually became heroes and heroines in their various disciplines of sports; and its collapse for the past 7 years, partly explains why Ghana has of late not been faring well in international competitions such as the All Africa, Commonwealth and Olympic Games”, Mr. Humado said. Making references to political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East and the post-election crisis in neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire, he cautioned that Ghanaians should not take the peace they are currently enjoying for granted. It is against that background that he expressed satisfaction and gladness for the renaming of the National Sports Festival as “National Unity Games” and also described as very appropriate and timeous, the choice of theme, “Uniting the people through sports”. “Sports has always been a powerful tool that unites this dear nation of ours”, he remarked. Mr. Humado commended the National Sports Authority (NSA) for factoring Colts’ Soccer into the list of twenty sporting disciplines during the National Unity Games. “Colts’ Soccer has a large following in the country and I am not surprised that all the Regions are presenting colts teams for the National Unity Games. “It was through colts’ soccer that the Abedi Peles, Stephen Appiahs, Asamoah Gyans, Michael Essiens to mention a few were all unearthed”. He expressed the hope that colts’ soccer at the National Unity Games will produce more future stars for Ghana football. Mr. Humado appealed to corporate bodies, individuals and private institutions to offer support to his ministry so that beyond uniting people through sports, they can also meet the growing demand for sports excellence in Ghana. On his part, the CEO of the National Sports Authority, Mr. Worlanyo Agra expressed confidence that as the festival has done in previous years; it would unearth budding talents to strengthen those national teams for the All Africa Games, which comes off in Maputo, Mozambique in September and the 2012 London Olympic Games. He said renaming the festival was predicated on the National Sports Authority’s desire to keep the rebranding spirit of the authority alive, unite Ghanaians as well as bring all stakeholders and interested parties in the web of Ghana sports together. The National Unity Games, which will be held in July, will run for ten days and under the distinguished patronage of the President, Professor J. E. A. Mills and the Vice President, John Mahama and candidates of all political parties in the country and other stakeholders. About five thousand sportsmen and women from all the regions, the security services and tertiary institutions will convene in Accra to vie for honours in the twenty sporting disciplines. The disciplines include Colts Soccer, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Chess and Disabled Sports. The rest are Handball, Hockey, Judo, Karate-do Netball, Cycling, Scrabble, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Volleyball, Weightlifting and Tennis.