The former international football star, Segun Odegbami has requested the return of the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium (formerly Liberty Stadium) to the state government of Oyo to improve revenue generation.
He made the call on Wednesday at the Best Ogedegbe Memorial Lecture at Government College Hall in Ibadan.
The Nigeria News Agency (NAN) announced that the event was organized by the Association of Sports Writers of Nigeria (SWAN), the chapter of the State of Oyo, in collaboration with the Best Ogedegbe family.
According to the NAN, the late Ogedegbe was the goalkeeper of the Nigeria national soccer team, then known as the Green Eagles, when he won the African Cup of Nations for the first time in 1980.
The legendary goalkeeper died on September 28, 2009, at the age of 55 after an eye surgery that plunged him into a coma. Odegbami asked Governor Seyi Makinde to return the Obafemi Awolowo stadium to the state government of Oyo to make it the home of the largest football club in Africa.
“That the stadium becomes the home of the largest football club in Africa at the same time.” The club that represents the movement of the Yoruba people is in Ibadan, called Shooting Stars, and not in 3SC. “Name the Shooting Stars International Stadium. Let this stage generate income and social commitment. Let the club become the best football club in Africa,” he said.
Odegbami, who denounced the degradation in the sports sector, said it was necessary to recruit the right people with the experience and qualifications to take over the sector.
“We have to find the right people. Those who did it. Those who lived it. Those who have the qualifications, who have the experience, not the politicians to practice our sport.
“Politicians have misinformed the government across the country that they do not need to spend money on sports,” said Odegbami.
He said the government has a legal responsibility to take care of their own sports, especially at the development level.
The former international also urged Makinde to examine the Shooting Stars and transform it back into this movement for Ibadan, Oyo State, and the Yoruba race.
In addition, former Senator Shehu Sanni of the Senate District of South Kaduna stated that former players should be paid for their services in the country to make the sport more attractive sport.netbet.ng.
“The sports sector needs government and private sector funds. You cannot prepare for the Olympic Games when only two or three months separate you from the Games. You will not get anything,” he said.
He said it was necessary to institute a sports advisory council that would be inhabited by those who represented the country in their lives.
“We have seen great men who have served this country, such as Mudashiru Lawal, Rashidi Yekini, Okwaraji, Aloysius Ochebu. Many of those people who worked tirelessly to give glory to our country, but were abandoned during the last phase of their lives.”
At this time we also have many players who have played for the Green Eagles and the Super Eagles that have brought joy to our country and are suffering. “Unfortunately, nothing is done about it,” said Sanni.
Professor Lee Evans, a former Olympic champion, lamented why the country’s athletes had to suffer and asked the private sector to get involved in the development of talent for the country.
“Where I come from, it is not the government that gives money to the sport, they are all around you.” It is the university that trained me. It is through education that I became an Olympic champion.
“Nigerians should think about how to support young athletes without the government having to give money.” The United States government does not give a penny to the United States Olympic team, “he said.
The Olympic champion trained in the United States has asked that the participation of the private sector in the development of aspiring young Nigerian athletes be the best possible.
In his comments, Mr. Abayomi Oke, former Commissioner for Youth and Sports in the state of Oyo and Mr. Niyi Alebiosu, President of SWAN, said the conference was appropriate and timely.
The duo said the conference would be an opportunity to celebrate the legendary goalkeeper and discuss sports development in the country.
According to the NAN, the Ogedegbe family, several former internationals, sports administrators and hosts of sports enthusiasts in the country participated in the event.
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