Moving Lagos Sports Forward, Aiyepeku, Gafaar In Strategic Meeting With Chairmen Of Sports Associations

In its bid to take sports to the next level, the Lagos State Sports Commission held strategic meetings with Boards of all sports associations to review the performance of Athletes at the last Sports Festival and strategise.

The meetings with the 44 boards of sports associations were held between 20th and 29th April, 2021 at the Telim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

The meetings, first in the history of the Sports Commission, were held with individual sports association, in order to allow the various associations to submit their strategic plans and programmes of events for the year and also to actualise the vision of the Lagos State Sports Commission.

The meetings, according to the Executive Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission, Sola Aiyepeku, are to be held at least, twice a year.

“The main reason for this meeting is to bridge the gap between the Lagos State Sports Commission and sports associations and for the associations to be proactive rather than reactive,” Aiyepeku told the Boards of the sports associations.

“We need to form circuits of events for the athletes,, where our Athletes are sure that there will be competitions for them every time, not waiting for the National Sports Festival.

“We want to correct the issue of dearth of competitions for Lagos athletes, as the case was in the past. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu wants the Boards of the sports associations to be autonomous, therefore we urge you to seek for sponsorships from corporate bodies and other organisations;

“On our part, we will support you, even if you want us to go with you physically, we would do so. Events are also expected to spread across developmental advocacy.

“The focus of sports associations in Lagos State need to shift to the State, where more state competitions and events will be organised for athletes. We have to increase the number of events that we organise in Lagos, be creative and set Lagos agog in all sports ,” he said.

He disclosed that the Commission will soon release the unified Lagos State Sports Calendar to the public.

The Executive Chairman also thanked the Board of all the sports associations that participated at the last National Sports Festival held in Edo .Director General, Lagos State Sports Commission, Oluwatoyin Gafaar, advised the sports associations to always submit their proposals and plans for events and competitions at least six weeks before the dates of the actual events.

Chairmen of all the Boards of sports associations promised to take Sports to the next level in Lagos State, and thanked the Lagos State Sports Commission for giving them the opportunity to serve. They also promised to work very hard to discover new talents and replace the ageing athletes in the state