Noami Oke (left)  receiving her award from Alhaji Tijani Abdulazeez Adebayo, a member of the Governing Board of Lagos State Sports Commission. 

Thirteen-year-old Naomi Oke was cynosure of all eyes at the final day of Lagos State Government sponsored Open Swimming Championship for Secondary Schools at the swimming pool of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos on Sunday. 

Oke, a SSS 1 student of Avital College, Aguda, Surulere, Lagos, single-handedly  carted home 9 gold medals in the three day event which was facilitated by the Lagos State Sports Commission and organized by the Lagos State Swimming Association.
Oke, who told PM EXPRESS of her ambition to do Lagos proud in national championships and represent Nigeria in the Olympic Games someday, excelled in different events of the swimming competition. Her golden performance was recorded in events such as freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, 50m, 100m and 200m events.
It was no surprise however as Oke was adjudged the  best swimmer in the senior secondary school (Girls) category by a  panel of technical officers of the competition.
“I’m so glad competing in this championship because it afforded me the chance to test my strength among other swimmers, and more importantly, I was able to  make new friends, ” Oke said
Other award winners in the competition  included Simeone Ore of Ipakodo Grammar School, Ikorodu, who won the junior secondary school girls category. With 5 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze medals,  Mogbojuri Adedoyin of Ajegunle Senior High School, Ajegunle, Ikorodu, won the senior secondary school boys category, while Chibubem Obata of St. Judes Private School, FESTAC, Lagos won the junior secondary school boys category with 3 gold and 1 bronze medals.
Meanwhile,  a member of the Governing Board of Lagos State Sports Commission, Alhaji Tijani Abdulazeez Adebayo commended Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for his support and promised to continue supporting yearly organization of the championship. He said Lagos’ investment in the grassroots and school sports events has been paying off with the discovery of the likes of Naomi Oke.
Mr Babatunde Fatayi-Williams, a board member of the Sports Commission who is also the Technical Director of the Commission noted that Nigeria as a country had lost it when she abandoned and neglected school sports, but thank goodness for the visionary steps taking by the Lagos State Government which has been able to put its resources in developing Lagos sports through schools.
“You can see several competitions across sports focusing on schools in Lagos. This is a conscious effort of our amiable Governor to give sports a new direction and performance driven in the state. We are taking school sports in the front burner in Lagos and the results are these young athletes we are discovering, ” Fatayi-Williams said.
No fewer than 152 athletes from 32 schools in public and private secondary schools took part in the championship. Prizes were given to all first, second and third place winners and certificates of participation to all swimmers.