Olamide Abe
The representatives of Education Students’ Association of Nigeria, Federal College of Education, Abeokuta in affiliation with the University of Ibadan, Ibadan (ESAN UI-FCEABK) hosted the divisional sport officer of Egba Sports council under the directorate of Ogun State sports council on Monday over the creation of a new inter-institution competition in the region, Nairasports reports.
The meeting was presided over by the Egba divisional sport office Mr. Opeoluwa Osoba, He was accompanied by Mrs. Oluwatoyin Owooka from the council’s hockey department, Mrs. Okeowo Racheal and Mr. Oyeladun Femi both from the para-athletics department.
The council’s team was welcomed to the school by Personal Assistant to the outgoing ESAN Sport Director, Osunnuga Teniola and ESAN Sport Director-elect, Comrade Ariyibi Samuel at the institution’s volley ball court.
Mr. Osoba gave out his mandate to the student representatives where he listed the sporting events to be expected and the timeline of activities.
“It is an inter-campus event that can be hosted by a school or be on home and away basis. It’s going to be including popular games like football, basketball, volleyball, tennis and combat sports.
“Our aim is to promote sport and we have more than 30 of them that we are interested in promoting. There will be a stakeholders meeting to that purpose on the 28th of this month to finalize things.” Mr. Osoba said
During the course of the meeting, the council also highlighted the significance of the inclusion of students with disabilities, citing the need for them to be recognized and celebrated more widely because they are also highly skilled in their fields despite their mental and physical obstacles.
Osoba, who graduated from the college as a PDE student mann years ago, further expressed that their promotion of grassroot sports is a means of delivering a much wider social impact and help in the development of local talent.
“We have para department that believes sport should not be limited, people that have disabilities can do sport too and must be encouraged, they are closer to medals and have more opportunities of winning than the able.
“Our aim is beyond university games, we are seeing champions that can come from here to represent the state and the nation.
“We came to the grassroots to identify athletes that can represent professional teams because we have platforms to take them through the process and they’ll be discovered.” He concluded.
As the lead representative of the principal student’s association of Centre for Degree Programmes (CEDEP), Comrade Ariyibi said he “will be glad to see this work out” as he promised the council that he’ll start “the assignment” from his own end while also awaiting “the results of the stakeholders meeting” scheduled to hold at the end of the month.
Naira Sports understands that the multi-sport event is being proposed to be a pioneer regional intercollegiate sporting events featuring all public and private tertiary institutions in Egbaland.
Osoba also confirmed that it will be restricted to only higher institutions located in the six local governments in the central part of Ogun State that constitutes Egbaland.
The targeted local government areas are: Abeokuta North, Abeokuta South, Ewekoro, Ifo, Obafemi Owode and Odeda local governments.
Though, still owing to the college management to give the nod, UI-FCEABK therefore became the first school to take it on the chin out of all the proposed tertiary institutions.
The remaining school in mind are Chrisland University, Crescent University, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), McPherson University, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Mountain Top University, D S Adegbenro I.C.T Polytechnic and Redeemer’s College of Technology and Management (RECTEM).
