Egbunike charges Lagos ahead National Sports Festival

CHIEF Coach of Nigeria's Athletics team to the London 2012 Olympics, Innocent Egbunike, has charged Lagos State to revive the glamour associated with the National Sports Festival, as it is set to play host to the 18th edition this year.The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics bronze medallist while speaking during his visit to the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, noted that athletics events used to attract alot of spectators to the stadium at the National Sports Festival those days.'The attention of the whole country is always focused on the National Sports Festival then. Winners of these events especially, the 100m and other high profile events do become instant national heroes and heroines, but now the festival has become more or less a ritual that just come and go," said the 1987 All Africa Games gold medallist.Egbunike, who met the state's Commissioner for Sports, Mr Wahid Enitan Oshodi and the Lagos 2012 Secretary General, Dr Kwenku Tandoh, stated that hosting the 18th NSF at this critical stage presents an opportunity for Lagos State to restore the lost glory of the Games."I am appealing to Governor Babatunde Fashola to restore the lost glory of the Games. Even in the United States, we all know that governor Fashola has done a lot for sports but he must put in place measures to prevent the use of mercenaries at the Games. Lagos 2012 should recreate the atmosphere that we used to have in the 1970 and 1980," Egbunike said.
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