Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has revealed that the state is ready to set good standards with the 2024 National Sports Festival.
The 22nd edition of the games, tagged Gateway 2024, is set to be held in Ogun State between May 16 and 31.
Abiodun opined that the state was deliberate from the outset in its plans to host a historic festival.
He said, “We are very deliberate about it (hosting the National Sports Festival). We have developed infrastructures and massively improved on security and other areas, and then we moved onto tourism and also sports.
“We are aware that sport unites the people despite our various differences. Again, we are trying to set good standards and want the National Sports Festival, Gateway 2024, to be held in 2025 to be the benchmark in the history of the National Sports Festival in the country.
“The LOC and government have been working day and night to put finishing touches to our preparations. I can boldly say that ‘we are ready’.
For the first time in the history of the festival, all the athletes will be camped in a game village. Abiodun has shed light on the reasons behind the decision.
He said, “It’s going to be a games village, and that’s like Olympic standard, where all the athletes would sleep and be fed in one place throughout the sports festival.
Meanwhile, Governor Dapo Abiodun also unveiled former Green Eagles captain Segun Odegbami as the Grand Sports Ambassador of Ogun State.
He presented the certificate of appointment to Odegbami in Abeokuta while stating that his activities would go beyond the National Sports Festival.
Abiodun said, “The National Sports Festival will come and go, but we’re already thinking of leveraging the gains that will come from hosting the NSF.
“That’s where Odegbami will come in to help us maximise the sports economy.
“He had already given us the template of the Amsterdam Arena, which we intend to replicate at the MKO Abiola Stadium,” he added.
Odegbami joins the likes of Tobi Amusan and Anthony Joshua as Ogun State’s sports ambassadors.
