DG Lagos State Sports Commission, Bank-Anthony
Director General of Lagos State Sports Commission, Mr. Babatunde Bank-Anthony has said that the state government is pleased to host the ongoing All Africa Challenge Trophy (AACT) at the Ikeja Golf Club.
The week-long West & Central Africa Challenge Trophy, one of the main international championships in Africa for golf, is organised by Ladies Golf Association of Nigeria in conjunction with the Lagos State Sports Commission, will end on Sunday with a gala nite and prize giving ceremony.
Speaking at the welcome cocktail organised Thursday evening for the players and officials from about 20 countries who are in Lagos for the tournament, Bank-Anthony said: “Lagos has been at the forefront of using sports to promote tourism and it’s quite fantastic that our lady golfers were able to secure this tournament for the first time in Nigeria with Lagos as hosts.
“As you know, the Governor is very keen on sports and tourism, the new Lagos State Golf Association is the primary partner and by extension Lagos State Sports Commission and the state government. You can see how we are coordinating the tournament together to make it a world class event. I believe the new golf association has great ideas to bring on board to make golf more accessible to Lagosians and to make it a game for all not for the elites alone.
“Beyond golf, we do this in other sports as well in Badminton, Gymnastics, Basketball, Volleyball and a whole lot of other sports that have come to stay because in Lagos, sports is very key to tourism and we are glad that lady golfers from different African countries are in Lagos.”
President of Ladies Golf Association of Nigeria, Ekanem Ekwueme said that hosting the West and Central Africa Championship has put Nigeria in the front burner as a regional force in golf, adding that the association will take the game of golf higher by working harder on its development.
“When you host an event like this, it puts you out there internationally and as regard development, you can’t achieve that with funding locally, you can only achieve that with the help from international community and luckily this event is being sponsored by the Royal and Ancient along with Alhaji Hauwa Ibrahim as well as the Lagos State Sports Commission. We also thank the Lagos State Golf Association for partnering with the Lady Golfers Association of Nigeria,” she said.