DG Fatodu Insists Lagos Won’t Dump Its Grassroots Sports Development Initiative

The Director General of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Hon. Lekan Fatodu, has again reiterated that the state won’t lose sight of its developmental initiative of grooming young athletes for the sustainable future of not only the state, but the country as a whole.

Lagos, which is popularly known as the Centre of Excellence, has been in the forefront of championing qualitative grassroots sports development programs, targeting breeding and grooming of young athletes and giving them the opportunities and platforms to develop their talents.

This has been the norm since the administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to the governments of Babatunde Raji Fashola, Akinwunmi Ambode and the incumbent Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

“This has been our tradition in Lagos. We won’t cut corners because of winning medals. Our outing is not about winning at all costs. This is counterproductive and anti-development.

“Our target in Lagos is to give these athletes an all-round capacity building for them to develop their talents and give them life that will sustain them even after their retirement,” said Hon. Lekan Fatodu, the Director General of the Lagos State Sports Commission while speaking with sports journalists at the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Fatodu, a versatile administrator, said that Lagos looks beyond the present to plan for the future, adding that “we are dealing with our athletes with sincerity and transparency, and we believe that states must compete with fairness in competitions such as the National Sports Festival and others.

“It’s unfair that we groom and breed athletes while other states come to poach them. I think it is high time sports authority in the country take a look at this issue of poaching and address it,” he said.

On the issue of rewards for the athletes, Fatodu believes the states must be cautious because greater monetisation will have negative effects on the focus of the athletes sooner than we expected.

“You can’t believe that some of the athletes that were poached by other states have been clamouring to come back to Lagos because they saw what we have been doing since I came on board as the Director General of the Sports Commission.

“Mr. Governor listens when we present our issues.

“We are doing a lot to improve the welfare of our athletes and coaches. We are also running an open government that carries everybody along. I am very close to my athletes and coaches because I see them as partners in progress.

“We have been given our athletes greater attention and well-being more than before and I am happy that they are responsive to this positively.

“We put in place a reward mechanism for our coaches which we called “DG Gift” which is being awarded based on performance. It has encouraged the coaches to put in their best.

“Within a very short time, we have increased the salaries of the coaches, while we also expose them to training at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) with tailored made courses.

“As Lagos is the face of Corporate Nigeria, we are using this network to empower our athletes and coaches.

“Our focus is on things that are more sustainable and enduring. We know the importance of incentives. We create that bonding between the management, the staff, officials, coaches and the athletes.

“For this National Sports Festival, our focus is on the areas we have comparative advantage in sports such as boxing, table tennis, combat sports, weightlifting, basketball, deaf athletics and few others. We don’t want to be everywhere, we are focusing on our strength,” Fatodu said.