The Kwara Government has paid all the outstanding allowances of the state athletes ahead of their trip to the 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos.

Coach Tunde Kazeem, Director of the State Sports Council, disclosed this on Thursday in Ilorin, during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Kazeem said that all the athletes and officials were in closed camping for 10 days, ahead of the sports fiesta, tagged "Eko 2012," holding from Nov. 27 to Dec. 9 in Lagos.

He boasted that the state would improve on its performance at the 17th edition of the fiesta in Port Harcourt in 2011.

NAN recalls that Kwara finished in the 18th position on the medals table in Port Harcourt, having won 23 medals, including five gold, six silver and 12 bronze.

The director said: "The entire requirements in terms of allowances and equipment have been met. I want to thank the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulfatai Ahmed, for providing us the enabling environment and giving us the moral and financial support to excel at the Games.

"Any time from now, the chairman of the sports council and I will be attending an international seminar in preparation for the competition in Lagos," he said.

Kazeem disclosed that the state would compete in 15 sports events with 113 athletes, saying that Kwara would only compete in those events where it had a comparative advantage.

"You know that sports nowadays, especially sports festival is no more a jamboree. You only go with those sports where you have a comparative advantage; where you have the strength to mop up some medals.

"This is the reason we are going with 15 sports out of the 27 and by the grace of God, we hope that we are going to improve on our past effort.

"The athletes and officials are ready to proceed to Lagos. We intend to leave on Sunday morning," he said.