Nigeria’s Montreal ‘76 Heroes Commend Obaseki’s Investment in Sports Infrastructure 

Duro Ikhazuagbe 

Legends of the Samuel Ogbemudia sports revolution in old Midwest/Bendel, have commended the Governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki, for rehabilitating sports facilities in the state to world-class standard.

Godwin Obasogie, Charlton Ehizuelen and Bruce T. Ijirigho (all Ph.D holders) who visited the governor shortly after they were inducted into Sports Diplomacy Wall of Fame at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs in Lagos at the weekend were at the Government House in Benin City on a courtesy call.

The trio were household names in the country’s track & field scene, rising to become world leaders in their respective events in the 1970s.

Obasogie hailed Obaseki for turning the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium to a world-class facility

“The Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium is world-class and has standard facilities that can be compared to any other anywhere in the world. The facilities are excellent,” observed Obasogie who won the All-American 110m hurdles event at the University of Missouri in 1975. He was on the verge of winning an Olympic gold medal in the barrier sprint event when Nigeria led other 26 African countries to boycott the Montreal Games in Canada.

Ehizuelen had the world leading long jump record leading to Montreal ‘76 Games and was sure-bet to win the gold but was denied the opportunity like Obasogie. Ijirigho was a quarter miler of world-class also in his peak that year.

All trio were products of the robust sports programme of the old Bendel State  put in place by Ogbemudia.

Speaking earlier, Governor Obaseki reaffirmed his government’s commitment to developing young athletes to become world record holders.

He  disclosed that the focus of his administration is the discovering of young athletes through the school sports programme, which will create opportunities for them to nurture their talents to stardom.

Obaseki commended the three Olympians for their exploits during their sporting days, stressing that the state government was honoured to have them in the state and would be glad to leverage on their heroics to promote its sports development programme.

“We are growing a new generation of young athletes who will be like you, as our policy is based on catching them young and we would like to use the opportunity of having you in our State to let the new generation know what you have achieved in the past so that you let your own stories inspire and motivate our young generation.

“We need to create alternative voices and for people to know that you have done it in the past and that you are our heroes,” stressed the Edo State governor.

Obaseki also said that they would be made patrons of some of the sports associations in the state.

The governor endorsed the proposal of having the ‘Class of 1971’ athletes  reunion in December this year and the inaugural edition of the Edo/Delta State Annual Competition for secondary schools to be staged next year on a rotational basis between the two state governments as presented by the trio.

They were accompanied to the Government House in Benin by the Chairman of the Edo State Sports Commission, Yussuf Alli, who is also an accomplished long jumper in in Africa. Ali’s national long jump record of 8.27m remains unmatched over 34 years.