Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi (Middle); flanked by Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin (L); and Former Captain of the National Team, Chief Segun Odegbami (R); and other Top Government Functionaries, during the March Edition of the Monthly Keep-Fit Programme, in Ado-Ekiti... on Saturday.
Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) has offered to sponsor Ekiti State Principal’s Cup, an annual football competition among secondary schools in the State.
The State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi made this known in Ado Ekiti at the first monthly Keep Fit Exercise held at Oluyemi Kayode Stadium on Saturday.
Fayemi said that the resuscitation of the Principal’s cup was not only to imbibe the culture of sports in students but also to bring back the glory of Ekiti State which has produced many athletes including Olympic medalist, late Oluyemi Kayode, Olusoji Fasuba and Damola Osayomi among others who have done Nigeria proud at International sports competitions.
While commending the effort of football ace, Chief Segun Odegbami for assisting the state in bringing youths back to sport, he said that it was the vision of his administration to encourage the academic in sports.
“I am glad to say that Guaranty Trust Bank has now offered to sponsor our Principal’s cup.We will continue to pay great attention to sports, not just in monitoring potentials but also in building their capacity”, he said.
The Governor added that the monthly Keep Fit Exercise was to enhance the physical fitness of Ekiti people, though the exercise was kick-started with civil servants and top government officials; saying that this would go a long way in building a healthy society.
Meanwhile, former Captain of Nigeria’s Green Eagles and ace footballer, Chief Segun Odegbami has commended the Fayemi-led administration for the development of sports which according to him as turned Ekiti state“ to the Mecca of Tennis”, saying that the State now has “ a fantastic facility but for tennis, I think they have one of the best facilities in the country.”
The football legend said Dr Fayemi deserved to be lauded for the attention he is giving to sports in the state, even as Ekiti is now hosting the first academicals national championship.
Odegbami said the rehabiliation of Oluyemi Kayode Statdium by the Fayemi-led administration was another testimonial to the attention to sports, even as he rated the stadium high.
“I almost didn’t recognise the stadium.The best part of the stadium for me is the pitch that we have grass. If you recall the Brazillians are coming to play in Nigeria very soon and one of the conditions they gave was that they would not play on artificial surface. The artificial surface is not good enough for players as players get injured very easily so what we need is green grass, that is what you have here in Ekiti state.” He said.
Last modified: March 18, 2012
