Our Expectations From Team Lagos At 19th National Sports Festival – Tandoh

TAIWO ADELU

Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission, Dr. Kweku Tandoh during the opening ceremony of the 19th National Sports Festival at the National Stadium, Abuja Thursday night

Team Lagos’ outing in the ongoing 19^th National Sports Festival in Abuja is not about how many medals they could haul, but about the exposure they gain and the positive values the games could add to their sporting career and overall development of both the athletes and sports in Lagos State.

Chairman of Lagos State Sports Commission, Dr. Kweku Tandoh told PM EXPRESS during the opening ceremony of the festival held Thursday night that the sports authority in Lagos is looking unto the athletes to put up good performance that will show that they have improved positively in what they have been taught back home.

“This tournament is not a do or dies for us in Lagos, but we are here to make a bold statement that the future is bright for sports in Lagos. This is not about the numbers of medal won, but we see the sports festival as an opportunity for athletes to test themselves with other participants to see how far they have gained from various developmental programmes we are having in Lagos. With this, we will know that we are on course in what we are doing to develop our athletes and sports in the state,” the chairman said.

According to Tandoh, tournaments, especially talent grooming events are being organised all year round in Lagos.

“Our athletes are very busy every month because we know the importance of exposing them to regular competitions.

“We can see the positive results of what we are doing during the zonal eliminations and from this we can say that our athletes will put up a good performance at the ongoing festival.”

Speaking on the organisational structures put in place by the Main Organising Committee of the festival and the output of this during the opening ceremony inside the main bowl of the National Stadium in Abuja Thursday night, Tandoh said: “We should commend the Ministry of Sports for making it possible for Nigerian sports to have the 19^th National Sports Festival seen the light of the day after the last edition held in Lagos in 2012.

“There was a lacuna, which saw us not having the festival taken place in the last six year. For the Ministry to have been able to organise this festival in 2018 despite the challenges is a big plus for them. For this opening ceremony, you can see the excitement on the faces of these athletes. The festival is a good opportunity for them to mix with their colleagues from other states. They really enjoyed themselves. So we should look at this festival from the positive angle.

“For us in Lagos, we will maximise all opportunity we can get from this competition and I can assure you that this is an opportunity for us to unveil new stars and future stars for Lagos State and the country as a whole.”