More than 1,500 students drawn from nearly 161 schools are expected to vie for honours on the athletics track in the second edition of the Lagelu Inter-Secondary Relay Race, sponsored by Seyi Makinde’s Omituntun Foundation and scheduled for 11th to13th October, 2018.
The competition was designed by an Ibadan based private radio station (Lagelu 96.7 FM) in collaboration with the federal and Oyo state ministries of youths and sports to open a new vista of opportunities to young athletes with great potentials in sprints, as a way of stimulating the supply chain of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).
The General manager News of the radio station, Tunde Olawuwo in a briefing held in preparatory to the event disclosed to newsmen that the initiative is now yielding positive results, adding “but to better harness the full potential of the project, only kids under 15 years would be henceforth allowed to participate”.
He explained further that this year’s event will be broader with the inclusion of a seminar on the first day of the event for games’ masters where they will be educated with modern techniques in grooming and officiating of athletics meets.
Olawuwo added that the organizers have provided transportation at various strategic locations in Ibadan to boost attendance and to ease perceived movement hitch from different destinations to the sports stadium of the University of Ibadan, the venue of the event.
Also addressing journalists at the briefing, the Southwest Zonal Coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports Mr. Femi Ajao described the project as commendable, while pledging the continued support of the ministry.
As the itinerary stipulates, five major events are listed for competitions, which are: 4 by 100 (male/female), 4 by 200 (male/female), 4 by 400 (male/female), mixed and medley races.
Packaged by Olanrewaju Agiri
