Ahead of next year’s National Sports Festival in Ogun, the state’s Ministry of Sports Development in collaboration with the Gateway Tertiary Institution Games (GATIG) Council, has announced that the 6th edition of the GATIG Games will hold from tomorrow till Sunday at the Otunba Dipo Dina International Stadium, Ijebu-Ode.
GATIG was first organized in the state in December 2004 at the MKO Abiola International Stadium but the competition later suffered some setbacks because it couldn’t hold annually as planned by the major stakeholders.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated GATIG Council, which comprises the heads of sports units of various tertiary institutions in Ogun State, Adeyemi Olalekan Kehinde, in a chat after their last meeting with the state’s Commissioner for Sports Development Hon. Wasiu Adeniran Isiaka, disclosed that the GATIG Games has come to stay.
Adeyemi explained further that this year’s championship is coming at the right time when Ogun State is determined to host and organize a successful National Sports Festival.
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“The GATIG will therefore be an avenue for the state to discover talents from various tertiary institutions that will represent Ogun State at the forthcoming National Sports Festival,” he noted.
Adeyemi who a doubles as the Director of Sports at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, also informed that many tertiary institutions have indicated their interest in participating in the championship.
“In the near future, we will look forward to seeing institutions bidding for the hosting of the annual competition as we have in NUGA, NIPOGA, and NACEGA games so that we can have our institutions improving on the provision of adequate sport facilities on our campuses across the state for both public and private institutions,” he said.
“Many of our tertiary institutions do not have adequate sports facilities, which have been hindering our student population from participating in sports.”
He added that the best athletes at this year’s GATIG will join the state team in camp for final trials and selection to determine who will represent Ogun State at the next year’s National Sports Festival.