Akeredolu tees off with golf

The brand new Governor of Ondo State, Alakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, last Saturday at the Smokin Hills Golf Club in Ilara Mokin performed what he termed his first official assignment by performing the ceremonial ‘tee off’ in a tourney organized in his honor by the spirit behind Smokin Hills, Sir Michael Ade Ojo.

While performing this great duty in presence of Plateau Governor, Barrister Simon Lalong and that of Bauchi, Barrister Muhammed Abubakar, Akeredolu hinted on the virtues of the game of golf and reasons he would on to it to pivot the economy of Ondo State. He said he was blessed that a world class Golf Course, Smokin Hills, was within his domain and he was prepared to utilize it to grow the tourism base of the state.

Akeredolu even veered back to the past and came with sweet memories of his golfing days in Ibadan. He summed things off with an emphatic yes vote for the game of golf. He claimed golf was life.

The Governor even shocked the huge crowd that witnessed the inaugural tourney when he delved into technical areas of the game. He actually mentioned that Caddies are integral part of golf, and without Caddies, the game could be miserable for any golfer. To him, if your caddie’s game is bad, then there is no way you, too, can have a game of golf. He even recalled how Tiger Wood’s game went south after he parted ways with his long time Caddie. He seriously pleaded with Caddies to take the game serious, but not at the expense of their studies. He agreed to assist any Caddie who shows enough promise in the game.

The whole night soon snowballed from golf to the real man, Rotimi Akeredolu. He said he would not love to be referred to as His Excellency since it is only God that is perfect. That it is only God that is excellent. Rather he would want to be addressed as ‘Alakurin’...The Man. He explained how he imbibed the name Alakurin. According to his tales, his father, from when he was aged six, was already referring to him as ‘Alakunrin and he, too, replying by calling his Dad same name. The relationship of father and son became binding through the alias of Alakurin.

At a point members of the Smokin Hills Golf Club were asked to stand and show themselves, Akeredolu rose and he did so with his wife. He thereafter noted that the game of golf shall blossom in the State since that land is blessed with the most challenging golf course in Africa.

“I will love people trooping here to play golf’, Akeredolu said ‘I know one thing will make this to happen. That is to stage quality tourneys from time to time. We shall be prepared to make this happen. In fact I have discussed with Baba [Sir Michael Ade Ojo] on ways to make this work. Golfers across Nigeria will soon be feeling our impact”.