By Olusegun Folarin
In a bid to move towards revitalizing sports at the grassroots level, Ogun State Government has promised continuous resuscitation of the State’s Sports Festival.
The Commissioner for Sports Development, Mr Wasiu Isiaka, disclosed this at the closing ceremony of the 2024 edition of Ogun State Sports Festival, held at the Sagamu International Stadium.
Mr Isiaka highlighted the importance of harnessing the potential of the youth and channeling their energy into productive ventures for their personal success and the socio-economic advancement of the state.
He explained that the festival was in response to the call by the Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries on the revival of the sports festival in their publication, “Perspectives on Moving Ogun State Forward,” and presented to the State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun in 2019.
The Sports Commissioner said the resuscitated festival would serve as a platform to discover new talents across all local government areas, providing an opportunity for these talents to join the core of established athletes.
He noted that the initiative was aimed at preparing a pool of athletes for major national competitions, such as the National Sports Festival, moving away from the practice of recruiting athletes from other states.
Mr Isiaka who announced that plans were on to create a more comprehensive event co-hosted by the Ministry of Sports Development and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said the event named Gateway Unity Day, will be held annually on February 3, commemorating the creation of Ogun State in 1976.
2024 Edition of Ogun State Sports festival featured different sporting activities, including football, athletics, scrabble, chess, Ayo Olopon, deaf and Para Athletics.
In the football event, Ijebu division defeated Remo 5-4 on penalty shootouts to be crowned champion, while Egba thrashed Yewa division 3-nil in the 3rd place final.
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