Sports

Sports Minister Vows To Complete The 250-Room Athlete’s Hostel After 20 Years of Abandonment

Published

2 years ago

August 23, 2023

Joel Ajayi

The newly appointed Sports Minister Senator John Enoh has vowed to bring back to life the abandoned huge majestic 250 rooms three stars athletes Hotel built with a huge amount of money 20 years ago for the progress of the athletes inside the now MKO Abiola National Stadium Package B Abuja

21 years ago, the V-shape three-star Hotel inside MKO Abiola National Stadium Package B was built to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerian Athletes especially on the issue of camping when preparing for any competition both national and international.

The Athlete’s Hostel was built in 2003 to be precise as part of the country’s facilities for hosting the 9th All Africa Games under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo which brought smiles to the faces of Abuja sports lovers as well as a resident in its fullness

Athlete’s hostel was built for the growth and development of Sports but was abandoned by successive Sports administrators who deliberately neglected the building for reasons best known to them.

Speaking on Wednesday while touring the facilities the newly appointed Minister who was not happy about long time abandonment of the edifice vowed not to leave any stone unturned to bring the athlete’s hostel back to life.

According to the minister, it’s a bit unacceptable that after two years, we can still find out that the facilities are still in a sorry state.

“The Ministry under my leadership will do all that it can, to get every part of the Stadium functional, including the athlete’s hostel, because athletes must have the best, to be the best.

“Athletes Hostel was put in place for the comfort of our athletes and it remains very critical in term of goal, objectives, and winning of laurels that Nigeria desire.

“Facilities and infrastructures are key components of sports, and they are variables that drive both elite performance and grassroots development.”

Share on Facebook

Sports

A Triumphant Close to the 22nd National Sports Festival

Published

3 days ago

May 29, 2025

The Gleamer

…As organisers promise another spectacle at closing ceremony on Thursday

Joel Ajayi

After 11 days of a true showcase of sporting competition in multiple Sports by some of the country’s top and even promising athletes, the curtain will finally be drawn on what many have described as one of the best ever organised National Sports festivals, when the closing ceremony is held on Thursday at the MKO Sports Arena in Abeokuta.

Whilst the quality of the Games’ opening ceremony is still getting tongues wagging, the entire sporting family and beyond is now anxiously looking forward to what the closing ceremony will look like.

The last 11 days have showcased Ogun state as a true Sporting hub with potential to even do more, with the quality of the facilities built for the games and the enthusiasm of the people who made the various venues their second home in the last few days.

A big testament to this was the history-making crowd that attended the male football final between Ogun state and Kwara State, which the host won by 4-1.

The MKO stadium was filled to full capacity while the crowd outside watching from the big screen reminds one of how much Sports is truly the soul of our togetherness as a country.

From the Alake Sports centre in Ijeja and the Baptist boys high school, to the Obafemi Awolowo square and the Remo stadium both in Ikenne, to the NYSC orientation camp in Shagamu, and the Ilisan town hall in Ilisan, the festival never lacked spectatorship throughout the games.

The Games actually lived up to the pre-tournament hype as both the National Sports Commission, NSC and the Ogun state Government pulled out every administrative capacity to ensure both athletes, officials and the media have an unforgettable experience.

The Gateway Games 2024 had been full of exciting drama and intrigues amongst the states and athletes which led to different new records being set and some old records being shattered.

The festival has also produced for the country some new exciting young talents especially with the shocking performance of the 38th state, the Invited Junior Athletes ( IJA), where they ended up winning some surprised medals to justify the Commission’s establishment of the initiative.

As the Closing ceremony holds on Thursday, the leadership of the National Sports commission, NSC, expresses its profound gratitude to the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Ogun State Government for making sure millions of Nigerian youths see a renewed brighter future in the country through the National Sports Festival.
The NSC Chairman Mallam Shehu Dilko said ” our overwhelming gratitude goes to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,GCFR, for his personal commitment to the development of Nigerian Sports by giving us every support financially and otherwise for the success of this festival”.

” And the Ogun state Governor, Dapo Abiodun also deserves a huge praise for the feat we all recorded with these games. I can’t thank him enough and posterity will surely remember him for good “.

The NSC Director General who is also the Chairman of the Main organising committee of the games, Hon Bukola Olopade also extended his gratitude to all the technocrats behind the scene that are responsible for the successful organisation of the games.

” From all the members of the Main organising committee to the various sub committees, to members of the local organising committees and all our technical officials in the various sports to the media and our athletes, every success that everyone is talking about concerning these Games belongs to you all”.

” Yes it was not a perfect festival because we acknowledged we had also some challenges but let me assure everyone that some of the challenges are already being worked upon ahead of the next Games holding in Enugu state next year”, he concluded.

The Closing ceremony is expected to bring together top Government functionaries to captain of industries while there will also be the rich cultural display of the state as Ogun state will officially pass the barton of hosting to Enugu state for the 23rd edition of the Games come September 2026.

Share on Facebook