12th December, 2012
Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire has said that the state will not engage the services of elite athletes in the 2014 edition of the National Sports Festival billed for Cross River State.
Adefulire, who was the chairperson of the Local Organising Committee, LOC at the just concluded 18th National Sports Festival held in Lagos, said Lagos has no such plans to use elite athletes for the 2014 Festival, adding that the state will continue to use the festival to groom grassroots athletes.
“We were not desperate to win Eko 2012 Sports Festival, but our objective was to identify talents, which we achieved. We are proud of our athletes that won medals for us at Eko 2012 and we will continue to keep them and give them international exposure and support as part of the preparation for the 2014 Sports Festival,” she said.
Commenting on the just concluded Eko 2012, Adefulire expressed satisfaction with the level of organisation, officiating and performance of all participating states. She said all the states gave good very account of themselves, noting that no state left without a medal.
Team Lagos finished third on the table with 64 gold, 47 silver and 44 bronze medals at the just concluded “Eko 2012”, which she hosted.
Delta topped the medals table with a haul of 114 gold, 99 silver and 75 bronze medals while Team Rivers who posed the biggest challenge to Delta throughout the festival won 76 gold, 71 silver and 70 bronze medals to emerge second.
—Sunday Akintoye