23rd June, 2010
The Lagos State government in its drive to organise a credible Sister City Games has invited multinational companies and organisations within the West Africa sub-region to partner with the state government and the people of the sub-region to host a befitting tournament.
The government in its drive to discover hidden talents, through its Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development, will host Sister City Games in partnership with Kumasi, Ghana.
Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, represented by the Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele, said the rationale behind the Sister City Games is to develop a people-to-people network in the West African sub-region.
He stated this at an inaugural meeting for the event held in Kumasi when he led a 10-man delegation to Ghana.
He said they proposed the Lagos-Kumasi Games project as a way of networking in the West African sub-region. He said Lagos is ready to host the Games for a period of five-years to make the event a pan-West African one.
The objectives of the Games include fostering good relationship within the sub-region, developing economic ties, focusing on people to people transactions, developing tourism, cultural and economic exchange between the people of the sub-region, developing sports and the talents of young people.
The event is expected to work within the oversight of the National Olympic Association and also fit into the mandate of ECOWAS.
Events expected to be competed for include Football, Lawn Tennis, Table Tennis, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball and Taekwondo, while the proposed venues for the games are Teslim Balogun Stadium as the main venue and Rowe Park Sports Centre, both in Lagos. Athletes and sportsmen competing in the Games would not be more than 18 years of age and he/she would still be in school.
—Wale Joseph