We’ll Host Best National Sports Festival – Fashola

The Lagos State Government has said it would host the best-ever National Sports Festival in 2012.

Gov. Babatunde Fashola gave the assurance in Ikeja when the state government and the National Sports Commission (NSC) signed a Joint Protocol Agreement on the hosting of the 18th National Sports Festival.

The Tidesports gathered reports that the agreement, which formally made Lagos the host of the 2012 festival, was signed by Mr Patrick Ekeji on behalf of the NSC, while Fashola signed for the state government.

Fashola said in addition to the excellent facilities that the state would put on display at the festival; it would also introduce some initiatives that would mark a turning point in the hosting of the competition.

Giving a hint at some of the initiatives, the governor said the state would make the festival live truly to its objective of discovering new talents by putting in place machinery that would produce a new generation of athletes for the country.

He lamented that Nigeria had not done well in international sport competitions lately because the National Sports Festival, which should be developing amateur athletes, had over the years recycled tired professionals.

“The festival which will be hosted by the state next year will be a departure from past festivals which never really focused on the development of amateur athletes.

“Although it is a fashionable thing to host and win, we hope to do well at the competition but more importantly our primary objective will be to use the festival to produce a new generation of athletes for the country,“ he said.

Fashola also said next year’s festival would be a delight for the physically-challenged athletes as the state would amply use it for the promotion of voluntary sports.

He said all Lagos residents would be fully mobilised, especially the business community, to ensure that the festival was not only the most successful but most profitable.

The National Sports Festival was first hosted in Lagos State in 1978.

Also speaking, Mr Enitan Oshodi, Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, said the state was ready for the competition and assured that it would surpass the standard set by Rivers in the last edition.

He thanked the NSC for granting Lagos the hosting right, saying the state would justify the confidence reposed in it by putting up a spectacular show.

Earlier, Ekeji said the granting of hosting right to Lagos was not by accident but by NSC‘s firm belief in the ability of the state to deliver in view of its good facilities and sports development programmes.

He said he had no doubt that next year‘s festival would be the best in view of the state’s pedigree in hosting national and international competitions.

Ekeji urged the state to include the National Stadium, Surulere, among the centres to be used for the festival, saying apart from helping to revive sporting activities at the stadium it would also boost the state‘s hosting capacity.