Tag: National Sports  Festival

• Odegbami unveiled as Grand Sports Ambassador 

The Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, remains confident that the forthcoming Gateway Games 2024  will be the  benchmark for the National Sports Festival in Nigeria.

The Gateway 2024  will be staged between May 16 and 31 in Ogun State.

 Briefing the media on the preparations for the  Gateway 2024 at the Olusegun Osoba Press Centre in Abeokuta  yesterday, Governor  Abiodun  said  Ogun State was deliberate  from the outset  when it made the bid  to host the  National Festival , adding that  after making huge and giant strides in the provision of infrastructure  and facilities across board, the state is poised to  host the best  ever fiesta  for budding  athletes in the country.

“We are very deliberate about it (hosting the National Sports Festival),” Abiodun  stated matter-of-factly. “We  have developed infrastructures, improved massively on security, and other areas, then we moved onto tourism and also sports.

“We are aware  that sport unite the people despite our various differences. Again, we are trying to set good standards  and wants  this National Sports Festival, Gateway 2024,  holding in 2025 to be the  benchmark in the history of the National  Sports Festival  in the country.

“The LOC and government have been working day and night to put finishing touches to our preparations. I can boldly say that ‘we are ready’.

Abiodun further  expressed delight that for the first time in the history of the National Sports Festival, all athletes competing at the games will be accommodated in the same place in order  to boost the camaraderie  amongst the assemblage of youths  from  all over the country.

“It’s going to be a games Village, and that’s like Olympics standard where  all the athletes would sleep and be fed  in one place throughout  the sports festival,” Abiodun added.

Read Also: Ogun picks 742 athletes for National Sports Festival

Meanwhile, Governor  Abiodun  has unveiled former  Nigeria  International  and erstwhile Green Eagles’ captain, Segun Odegbami, as the Grand Sports Ambassador of Ogun State.

Odegbami’s appointment along  with that  of star  athlete Tobi Amusan  and boxing sensation Anthony Joshua as the state’s sports  ambassadors , were announced on the margins of the governor’s media parley with senior sports editors  yesterday  at the Olusegun Osoba Press Centre in Abeokuta.

Governor Abiodun presented the certificate appointing Odegbami, whose activities will go beyond the National Sports Festival.

“Permit me to use this opportunity to perform this ceremony of unveiling Chief Segun Odegbami as our grand sports ambassador.

“The National Sports Festival will come and go, but we’re already thinking of leveraging on the gains that will come from hosting the NSF.

“That’s where Odegbami will come in to help us maximise the sports economy.

“He had already given us the template of the Amsterdam Arena, which we intend to replicate at the MKO Abiola Stadium,” he added.

At yesterday’s unveiling of ‘Mathematical’ Odegbami by Governor Abiodun  was the Secretary to the Government of  Ogun State, Mr. Tokunbo Alabi  as well as   Commissioner of Sports, Honourable Wasiu Isiaka,  the Chief of Staff to Governor Abiodun, Dr. Toyin Taiwo  as well   as other  top government  officials officials including chieftains of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) Dr. Kweku Tandoh and Dr. Kunle Solaja.

Ogun State Commissioner  of Sports, Honourable Wasiu Isiaka,  has  assured   that the 22^nd    National Sports Festival  holding later this month in Abeokuta will be declared as ‘best of the best’ at the conclusion, adding that  the Gateway State would pull all the stops  to ready  all  the   facilities  to host a befitting  event.

Honourable Wasiu made the remarks as he took some media men round the upgraded facilities at the MKO Abiola International Stadium, hub of the upcoming festival and the Alake Sports Centre, where some indoor games as well as handball will be held.

Remarkably, the facilities have undergone a tremendous upgrade as the facade of the stadium wears a new look, while the new athletics tracks have also been laid. The football pitch is now lush green following the laying of hybrid Astroturf.

The sports commissioner, Isiaka, who credits the state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, for the transformation, pointed out that the enclosed VVIP pavilion at the stadium has been expanded to accommodate nearly 150 guests, up from the previous capacity of fewer than 50 guests.

He affirmed that nearly all facilities are completed, with the few remaining undergoing final touches and scheduled to be ready before the festival gets underway.

Read Also: National Sports Festival gets new dates

“We are fully prepared. The facilities speak for themselves,” Isiaka said during the tour. “We are working around the clock to ensure every necessary structure is in place.

“By the time the games begin, Ogun State will be more than ready.”

More astonishing is the transformation and nearly remodelling of the Alake Sports Centre. A visitor who last got to the centre six months ago will be pleasantly surprised at the new look facility.

Speaking further,  Hon. Isiaka   said  the  state was proud to be hosting the  event  yet again after  its first attempt in 2006, adding  the Gateway 2024 would surely better than the last outing ‘because we want to use this particular  sports festival to reignite awareness  and importance of sports   especially for the youths’.  

“Don’t forget we are wearing two  caps at this forthcoming National Sports Festival  apart from being  the host of Gateway  2024 Games, we are also  competitors  and we want to also do well  as  the host too,” he added.