JTM to inspect facilities for Ogun 2025 National Sports Festival

Ogun State’s readiness to host the 22nd National Sports Festival, tagged: ‘Gateway Games,’ will be put to test by the Joint Technical Meeting (JTM) of the main organising committee (MOC), the organisers have said.

According to the MOC, the JYN is expected to inspect all the facilities built or renovated for the Games to ascertain their readiness for the festival.

The Federal Government had approved January 2025 as official date for the Games during the National Council on Sports held in Enugu State earlier this year.

Ogun State won the bid to host the biennial sports fiesta at the end of the last edition held in Asaba, Delta State in 2022. It will be the second time Ogun is hosting the National Sports Festival, after hosting it in 2006 during the administration of Otunba Gbenga Daniel.

The Guardian learnt, yesterday, that the Joint Technical Meeting, comprising top stakeholders, will hold between December 11 and 13 in Ogun State.

“At that meeting, all the facilities built or renovated by the state for the National Sports Festival will be inspected,” an official told The Guardian.

To give Nigerian youths the best sporting facilities to display their talent, Ogun State government embarked on reconstruction and renovation works on its facilities, including the MKO Abiola Stadium and the Alake Sports Centre, Ijeja, Abeokuta.

Ogun State Commissioner for Sports Development, Wasiu Isiaka, listed some of the construction works to include the scraping of the pitch at the main bowl of the MKO Abiola Stadium, the removal of the tartan tracks, as well as the roofs at the indoor hall of the Alake Sports Centre, Ijeja, Abeokuta.

“The VIP section of the MKO Abiola Stadium will also be expanded, while an Olympic-sized swimming pool, tennis courts and handball courts will be constructed within the stadium. The renovation works will be completed within the stipulated time and will be tested before the National Sports Festival scheduled for January 2025,” Isiaka said.

Before he vacated his position as chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the Gateway National Sports Festival, following his appointment as the Director General of the National Sports Commission in Abuja, Bukola Olopade, revealed that Ogun State was working hard to deliver all the facilities needed for the Sports Festival.

“Work is going on and I can say the facilities will be ready well ahead of the National Sports Festival in January 2025,” Olopade said. “Test running of the facilities will take place in December. We are putting in place fantastic facilities at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abeokuta, the Gateway Stadium in Sagamu and Alake Sports Centre.”

According to Olopade, part of the plans to make the Gateway National Sports Festival different from past editions is the accommodation arrangement. “Ogun State government has entered an agreement with Babcock University to accommodate about 15,000 athletes in their hostel.”