9th November, 2024
On Wednesday 30 October 2024, PMNEWS Media team comprising ISA ISAWADE, ADEJOKE ADELEYE and Photo Journalist IDOWU OTEGBOLA visited the Ogun State Commissioner For Sports Development, WASIU ISIAKA, in his office at the M.K.O Abiola International Stadium, Abeokuta to find out the level of preparation of the state towards hosting the coveted National Sports Festival tagged “2024 Gateway Games”. The Commissioner fielded questions from the journalists, assuring sports enthusiasts in the country that Ogun is fully ready to give them a fulfilling experience during the festival billed for January 12 to 26, 2025. Hear out the man in charge of sports development in the Gateway State:
Q: We are aware that preparations are underway for the National Sports Festival Ogun 2024, tagged ‘2024 Gateway Games’. Are you fully ready to host this event?
A: Thank you very much. Let me once again welcome you to my office. Well, the 22nd National Sports Festival tagged ‘2024 Gateway Games’ will be coming up in January. Of course, we are fully ready and the main organizing committee was here some months ago and they attested to the fact that we are indeed very ready. Let me just sum it up that we are leaving no stone unturned in terms of accommodation facilities, logistics and everything. We are very much ready.
Q: You, the Governor and some other key officials recently visited the facilities, the M.K.O Abiola International Stadium here and the Alake Sports Center at Ijeja during which the governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun complained about the state of the facilities before the ongoing renovation efforts. Why were the facilities left to rot away by previous governments in the state?
A: Well, you see, it’s like somebody trying to ask us what have we achieved so far in sports and sports development in Ogun State. I think the first thing is to let the person know the state at which we met the facilities and there’s no way anybody will see what we met and will not complain. In fact, the MKO Abiola Stadium was almost becoming a mere social centre where people came for crusades, social activities and things like that. But with the efforts we are putting on the ground now, honestly speaking, we are so sure that by the time we finish everything, it will be like, we are bringing in new facilities to the state.
Q: The governor expressed his pain that the Alake Sports Center at Ijeja was abandoned for too long, and despite seeing the extent of work that would bring it back to shape, he promised to ensure it’s achieved before the event arrives. What is happening there now?
You were there. I am sure that one of you was there with us. With what is happening there, there is no way we won’t commend the government, particularly the governor for having the boldness to embark on that kind of job at this time. That place, the facilities you see there, there are about 9 games in the indoor hall alone and we have another 7 or 8 outside. So, Ijeja is a sports centre that can hold a lot of games and that is what we are trying to do. What we are doing there is not just for the festival, we are looking way far far above that. We want to develop sports in Ogun State and we want to use this one as a base, you know, to leverage on it and that is what is happening there.
Q: Before your arrival, while waiting for you we went sightseeing around the stadium here and discovered that a lot still needs to be done in respect of the ongoing renovation and reconstruction. Are you sure the contractors will meet the deadline as you know the event days are not too far away?
A: Everything will be ready, everything. Some are in place already, like the scoreboard, all those ones are like ninety per cent completion. Some are eighty per cent, you know. Most of those things, once they finish the casting, most of the things they want to put in them are on ground. So, it’s a matter of just a few more things to be done. We are confident that we are going to do it all.
Q: At the recent National Youth Games in Asaba, Delta State, your teams performed excellently and you were proud of them. They went away with medals in different sports. What are your expectations for the forthcoming event?
A: The one we went for at Asaba, like you said, was the national youth game. It was basically for under 15, and unlike before when we picked people from other states to represent us, we went with hundred per cent indigenes of the state. And despite not going out to rent athletes, we came sixth. Apart from that, almost thirty-four of our children got an instant invitation to represent Nigeria in Commonwealth. Of course, they have invited them to come to Commonwealth next year. You know, that was one of the main achievements of it because this thing is about development. We want to develop our children, to develop sports. You know, those children that were invited to come will be growing. We will be coming from that place to nurture them to the next stage.
Q: What are the programs in place to identify and develop young sports talents in Ogun State?
A: Thank you very much. You know we have the Ministry of Sports Development. Under the ministry, we have sports council and so many other sports agencies. But you see when you want to discover, you know, this thing is a function of discovering and nurturing to stardom. You know, if you want to discover, discover at the primary school, the secondary school levels. There is no way we will say we want to get to that level without working with the primary schools and the secondary schools. So, we are coming up with a committee that will be in charge of school and grassroots sports development. It will be a combination of members of students, members of the Ministry of Education, even some universities, private schools, then all stakeholders. So that everybody will come together, and the reason is this: you know, if you don’t ask everybody, give everybody a sense of belonging, the tendency is there for us to start having internal rivalry or something else. So, by the time we have that committee in place, we will know that we are working for the same purpose, we are under the same government, working for the same people. You know, so that is what we are trying to do.
So, by the time we put that in place, you see when you want to have inter-house sports in primary school, the committee will have representatives there. They will be able to identify, in secondary they will be able to identify. From there, we move them to the sports council where they have equipment to train them. You know. From there, we will be able to begin to tap them and expose them to competition. So that is what we are having and you see, we are coming up with a policy-driven sporting system. Not that you just wake up and do something without having a plan in place. So that is really what is happening.
Q: As the 2024 Gateway Games approach, what are the strategies that have been put in place to attract sports tourism?
A: Like I said, our team in Ogun State is building our future together. All the ministries and agencies will work together for the same purpose. We have a ministry that is in charge of that, and they are part of this arrangement. Their area of focus is to bring all those things together, expose it to our people, the tourists and things like that. So they are working, you know, as we are working on our own line, they are equally working on their own line. Likewise, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Transportation, all of us are coming together for this purpose. So I can assure you that we have a plan in place for that.
Q: What initiatives are being taken to promote women’s participation in the 2024 Games?
A: You know one thing I’m not too sure we place too much emphasis on in Ogun State is the dichotomy between male and female. You know, because we don’t have that problem. We really don’t focus on it. Because, in fact, in some areas, imagine Tobi Amusan. You know that Tobi Amusan is from Ogun State; Falilat Ogunkoya is from Ogun State. Those alone are pointers to the fact that we are not discriminating. Even what happened at the National Youth Game at Asaba, the lady that won gold has even set a new record, a young lady from one of the primary schools here in Ogun State. So, those are the facts that we don’t have any issue with female participation in sports in the state.
Q: In organising an event of this magnitude, you should expect that there will be some challenges, especially logistic ones. What are the strategies put in place to address the likely challenges you will be facing during the festival?
A: I think that is part of life. Challenges are part of life. But we have committees in place that are up to the task regarding that. By the grace of God, we are not expecting anyone that will be beyond us but we are very much ready. We have committees and subcommittees in place. There are not just subcommittees that would put people who do not understand what it obtains to be in the committees. They are people of value who know what they are doing. So, I am very sure that there will be no issue.
Q: What about security arrangements?
A: Same thing with what I said. I told you that we are not leaving anything to chance. We are putting everything in place. We are dotting our ‘i’s and crossing our ‘t’s to ensure everything will go well.
Q: How is the state engaging the local communities to garner support for sports development initiatives?
A: Well, in Ogun State we have facilities across the state and one of our major points is to develop those things. They are there but the truth of the matter is that before now they are not being utilized. In fact the Gateway International Stadium at Ilaro, the power supply to that facility was disconnected in 2011. You can imagine that kind of thing and what is happening there. But as we speak, we are putting so many things in place. As a matter of fact, some of the Ogun contingent are camping there. For you to know that we want to return that place to what anybody can call a facility worthy of running. So all those things are being put in place. Once you put those facilities in place, not just put them in place for the sake of it. We are putting them in place for people to use.
Q: What are the plans put in place to maintain the facilities because the event will come and go, how do you ensure that the facilities will not be neglected after the event just as it happened in the past?
A: This will not be like that, yes. The management of these facilities will be solid. We are talking to some people already because, you see, anything you want to do, the first thing is the interest of the good people of the state. That is the major point of this government. Anything we want to do, we put the people first. So, we will not be putting things that will not be sustainable in place. As I speak to you. I have proposals from people who want to begin to use those facilities. And that is the reason we are coming up with that. We are going to manage them, and the system by which we will manage them will be unveiled very soon. But for now, let’s just concentrate on putting them in place, use them for the game, and then we go to the next stage.
Q: What economic benefits is the state expecting from hosting the festival?
A: The economic benefits of hosting this type of event are enormous. When nations are bidding for the Olympics, they go to any length to make sure that they win the bid. Then you ask yourself, why should nations be spending so much money to say they want to host the Olympics, knowing that they are going to spend money to host it? Once there is not going to be any benefit in it, once they know that nothing is going to accrue to the people of their countries, I am not too sure they will go for it. The same thing applies to the National Sports Festival. There are tangible and intangible benefits. In terms of the basic ones, there is no way almost twenty thousand people will move to a particular place that you won’t see the boost in the daily activities of the people in terms of economy, people who are selling things, the transporters and the hospitality industry. A lot of things, even the one you asked me earlier- culture and tourism. Apart from that, it will be one of the things that will expose the eyes of some of the investors to look at the direction while that thing is going on. Before you know it they can decide that let me move a branch of my company there. So, the form of the economic benefits that will be coming to the state is not what you can estimate, it’s so enormous.
Q: Your final words?
A: Final words? Well, I thank you for this opportunity and I also thank the good people of Ogun State for their support to the government, their support to the ministry and their support in terms of advice and giving us the necessary things that we need because the sports festival is not just something that is being organised by us alone. It belongs to everybody, every indigene of Ogun State home and abroad because it’s a way of telling the world that this is Ogun State and we can assure the people who are coming that Ogun State is hospitable, we are expecting them, we are waiting for them and by the grace of God, at the end of the day, like the governor said, it’s going to be a festival that people will live to remember.
