LAGOS’ SPORTS DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

From the glorious days of the Roman empires with its huge amphitheatres which were used for gladiatorial combats, animal slayings and executions among others, governments have realised the unifying power of sports as an agent of mass mobilisation and political stabilisation even in troubled times and periods of civil unrest.

The sporting sector is quite huge with enormous capacity to contribute to the Gross Domestic Product of any country. The potential of sports to generate employment among the value chain is quite vast.

It is in a bid to appropriately leverage on the power of sports that the Lagos State government has come up with quite a number of initiatives that could accelerate sports development in the state. The vehicle through which this is being achieved is T.H.E.S.E, acronym for tourism, hospitality, entertainment and sporting excellence. Since his assumption of office, Governor Ambode has left no one in doubt about his resolve to grow the Lagos economy and empower the youth through several alternative means which include the tactical promotion of tourism, entertainment and sports. In order to accelerate sports development in the state, Lagos State Sports Commission was carved out of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development with a mission to make Lagos Africa’s sport hub within three years. This singular act has helped to divorce sporting matters from all administrative bottle necks and bureaucracy.

The Sports Commission’s first priority was to stop age cheating in the state’s sporting circle. To this end, a policy to fast track progres- sion of athletes of varied age grades in the state has been put in place. A database of all Lagos State athletes in the state was created as a major step forward in this regard.

The state government is equally working hard to ensure upgrade of existing sporting infrastructure as well as construction of new ones. For instance, three astro turf facilities are being constructed in Festac, Ikeja and Surulere. There are plans to build a world class aquatic centre in Epe and Lagos to include world class model swimming pools as well as adjoining hospitality facilities by 2018. The project, when completed, will attract thousands of tourists annually, as well as create several short and long term job and potentially to generate significant revenue for the state annually. There is also an ongoing transformation of Onikan stadium as well as a major upgrade of the Teslim Balogun stadium. This is in addition to the construction of the Lagos Game Village. Presently, the state’s sporting infrastructure development project has created about 3,000 short and long term jobs across the state.

Grassroots sports development is also being given a huge boost by the state government.. In 2016 for instance, the state government sponsored 35 grassroots sports competitions such as Lagos State boxing individual open championship, Lagos International Squash Classic, Lagos invitational artistic gymnastics championship, maiden edition of under- 17 Judo Slam, three-day Closed Wrestling Championship, Lagos Triathlon Fiesta, Lagos Under-18 Fives Championship, First Lagos Secondary Schools’ Hockey League, Lagos Junior Golf Training/ Championship, Lagos T20 Cricket Tourney, First Lagos State Secondary Schools Traditional Sports Competitions and Governor Ambode First South West under- 18 Badminton Competition, among others. Through these competitions, some new talents have been discovered.

In order to further reinforce its intention to develop sports in the state, the Ambode administration equally conceived and pioneered the now famous Lagos City Marathon. A total of 100, 000 athletes from 27 countries participated in the second edition of the Access Bank sponsored Lagos marathon which held on February 11, 2017.

With a view to encouraging more younger folks to develop interest in sports, all of the state’s public schools are now mandated by the state government to organise annual inter house sports competition. Aside its potential to discover new talents, it is equally meant to promote the culture of friendliness, keeping fit and unity among students across the school.

Jeddy O mi sore, Lag os State Ministry of Information& Strategy, Ala us a, Lag os.