Athletes taking part in previous game
By Akeem Atoyebi
About 120 universities in Nigeria and 36 others from Africa have begun to arrive in Lagos for the 11th All-Africa University Games, which is co-hosted by the University of Lagos and Lagos State University from Friday, September 20 (today), till September 29.
The opening ceremony of the event will be held at the UNILAG Sports Complex on Saturday as the competition returns to Nigeria for the first time in 20 years.
UNILAG Vice Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, said the Games will again project Nigeria’s cultural heritage among the community of African universities.
“As for what we will bring, we will create the fun that went around NUGA. The beauty of hosting FASU now is that we don’t have to rethink things from scratch. We thought a lot of things through the last time we hosted NUGA, and we have a template to apply for the games,” she said.
“One of the things that we are already doing now is to drum up awareness and get our students fully involved. We will also use the opportunity to showcase Nigeria’s very rich and diversified cultural heritage. Co-hosting with LASU also takes some of the burden off our shoulders, and the Lagos State Government is also supporting us.”
The UNILAG Communications Unit also organised a road show on Thursday to drum awareness around the campus ahead of the games.
The Director of Sports, UNILAG, Joseph Awoyinfa, also noted that all facilities for the games have been put in proper shape.
“We are going to have about 17 sports, and UNILAG will be hosting football, cricket, swimming, basketball, handball, and tennis. All the indoor games will be held at LASU.
“We have about three basketball courts, and the indoor hall has been refurbished. Our swimming pool is also the only one in Nigerian universities that has a switch timer that automatically records the time of a swimmer as soon as he jumps into the water.”
Nigeria hosted the third FASU Games in 2004 at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi.
This edition of the Games holds historical significance as it marks the first-ever joint hosting by two universities.
