The grand finale of Odiolowo-Ojuwoye Local Council Development Area Annual Sports Fiesta was held on Wednesday, 11 December, 2024 at the council secretariat in Ilupeju, reports thegazellenews.com
The weeklong sporting activities featured different sports such as street soccer, basketball, table tennis, boxing, draught, card game and Ayo Olopon.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, the Chairman of the Council, Honourable Rasaq Olusola Ajala stated that the event was organised to discover new sporting talents for the various grades of the state and country’s teams in various sports.
According to him, it is also meant to correct the negative stories being spread about Mushin in relation to violence and crimes.
“We have shown the world that Mushin is not about negativity and we have proven that talents indeed abound in Mushin.
“We have demonstrated that we have what it takes to compete with anyone and team across the country and in the world.
“With the programme, we have shown that we can contribute to the development of sports in our state and the nation at large.
“The programme has brought forth the talents that are domesticated in the various communities among our youth who can compete with any of their counterparts in the world.
“The programme was deliberate and intentional to redirect the energy of the youth to something meaningful to themselves and the society at large.
People always believe that Mushin is about negativity but this programme was deliberate and intentionally created to redirect the energy of our youth to productive ventures for them and the society instead of using such energy to unleash terror to the people of the community.
“The barrier we encountered at the inception of our government has been broken with various communities interacting with each other which was not possible before we came on board.
“With the programme, we have been able to join communities in our LCDA where people from Fadeyi can interact with the people in Idioro, Ilupeju and Ojuwoye.
“We have shown the world that everyone can socialize without fear of molestation.
“We have succeeded in changing the narrative about our Security challenges where it was impossible for people of various communities to interact.
“We have not limited our Sports to the youth alone, elderly people were also involved in sporting activities such as draught, ayo olopon, and 50 card Game.
“We were commended for the initiative and we are going to continue to do our best for the people of our LCDA,” Ajala said.
Highlights of the ceremony was the presentation of medals, trophies and cash to winners of various sporting activities during the fiesta.
