Wasiu Isiaka, the commissioner for Sports in Ogun State, has praised his principal, Gov. Dapo Abiodun, for being the pillar that has made the state contingent to the 22nd National Sports Festival rise above expectation to place third among competing 38 teams.

Ogun State Commissioner for Sports, Wasiu Isiaka

“This is our best moment, and we shall build on it”, he told Sports Village Square. Team Ogun, a hitherto medium power, rose above expectations to beat some traditional National Sports Festival powerhouses and eventually came third.

Edo State and Lagos were some powerhouses that ran out of gas following the frenetic performance of Team Ogun.

“Great thanks to my governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun. He has been a source of inspiration,” Isiaka said. He congratulated the governor not just for the success of Team Ogun. He also acknowledged the helmsman’s 65th birthday and sixth anniversary as governor of Ogun State.

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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 are 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 the 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 spectators throughout the games.

The Games 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 had 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 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 scenes who are responsible for the successful organisation of the games.

All the members of the Main organising committee and various sub committees have shown incredible dedication. The local organising committees and all our technical officials in the various sports have also been outstanding. Your dedication has been incredible.

The media and our athletes have also contributed immensely. 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. Let me assure everyone that some of the challenges are already being worked upon. This is ahead of the next Games holding in Enugu State next year”, he concluded.

The Closing ceremony is expected to bring together top Government functionaries and captains of industries. There will also be a rich cultural display of the state.

Ogun State will officially pass the baton of hosting to Enugu State. This will be for the 23rd edition of the Games. The Games will occur in September 2026.

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It was some moments of hugging, screaming and backslapping by players as members of the Team Ogun State, who topped the Scrabble overall medals table with eight medals, consisting of four gold, three silver and a bronze.

Having won three gold, one silver and one bronze medal in the Singles and Doubles events, the Prince Dapo Abiodun Jammers mined for more top medals in the Team Event on the final day on Tuesday.

Their efforts yielded an additional gold in the Intermediate category as African Youth champion David Ojih, Hakeem Ogundokun, and Tunde Saporu clawed their way to the top of the table after 12 rounds.

The female team, led by African Games double gold medallist Adebisi Adekansi, with experienced Bukunmi Afolayan and Youth prodigy Joy Ola, grabbed the silver medal with nine wins and three defeats above Team Lagos, but were behind Team Delta which took the gold medal.

The Opens’ triad of Emmanuel Ogiogio, David Idris and Olumide Sobowale also helped themselves to a silver medal with 9 wins behind gold winner Team FCT, while Team Anambra State took the bronze medal.

On the medals table, FCT finished second with three gold and one bronze medal while Team Delta State got two gold, two silver and one bronze to place third.

Fourth-placed Team Bayelsa State won two gold medals and

Edo got one gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

Team Lagos earned three silver and two bronze medals ahead of Team Oyo State, which won two silver medals. Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Abia and Anambra won a bronze medal each.

Players and officials gave a good review of the hosting state for providing a good tournament ambience and feeding.

Ogun State Scrabble Association Chairman Adekoyejo Adegbesan said the state was never ready to lower the standards, but to raise the standards to a fresh level at the National Sports Festival.

“It’s never been like this before. You can see the ambience, equipment are new; the playing boards, pro-tiles, pro-timer. We just put up the best of the best. All our players are happy that we’ve been able to create this opportunity for them to play scrabble.”

Adekoyejo, who also heads the continent’s Pan African Scrabble Association (PANASA) was full of good words as he described his team as the best Scrabble-playing state in Nigeria.

“Congratulations, Team. You have no idea what you all have just done at this National Sports Festival! You have cemented our spot as the Best Scrabble Playing State in Nigeria. We have won everything there is to win, and now we are the National Champions.”

Twenty-four states participated in the five-day event.