Sports’ll Get New Lease On Life In Ifako-Ijaiye

Demola Doherty is the newly elected chairman of Ifako-Ijaye Local Government Area. The former banker turned politician, spoke with Wale Joseph about his plans for sports in the local council

Q: Congratulation on your victory as the chairman of Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government, can you please tell our readers about your plan for sports during your tenure.
A: We want to focus on grassroots sports because I believe that there are a lot of sporting activities in the local government that need ourt attention. We are starting with an Under-13 Football Competition which is going to be among primary schools in the local government. The aim of the tourney is to catch them young  from where we will be begin to groom the talents discovere at the end of the day. The lucky one among them will then be integrated into some of the sports academies across the globe where their talents can be further enhance. This will help some families in the local government to have more hope in the future because if their wards can be admitted in some of the best academies across the globe, the families stand to benefit a lot from this.We are also looking at the development of boxing in the area because we have so many talented boxers. We want to create avenues for them to develop their God-given talents. We also have plan for other sports as well. So our general aim is to be the best local government in the area of sports. If we can do this , the issue of youths restiveness will be a thing of the past because if we engaged the youths positively, they won’t have time for social vices that cxan tarnish their image. We want to complement the state government’s effort of using sports to empower the youths.

Q: How will you cope with the problem of sports facilities in the local government?
A: We already have a football field beside Ifako-Ijaye General Hospital. We also have a sports centre which we can also be used for these sporting activities. An advise has come from our leader and former Governor of the state,  Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that the place could be developed into a standard sporting centre. I want to assure you that we are ready to spend money to provide whatever is needed to develop sports in the area. Don’t forget that our governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola is a sports loving person , so if he sees what we are trying to achieve in sports, he will give us the support. We also intended to start the re-training of coaches, Gamesmasters and Mistresses so that they can continue to upgrade their knowledge in their respectively sports.

Q: How do you intend to train and re-trained this coaches, Gamesmasters and Mistresses?
A: I am a strongly believer in our indigenous coaches and with the sporting academies that exist within and outside the country we intended to partner with some them for the training of our people. We will also try to organise seminars and workshops for them to develop and upgrade their knowledge of their sports. Apart from this, the National Institute for Sports (NIS) is also there which we can take advantage of by sending some of them to the school. Also we won’t mind to even send them aboard for further training if need be.

Q: What should people expect from Ifako-Ijaye Local government in the next Sports Month?
A: You know we are still very new, so we cannot claim to know how the local government did in the last edition  of the Sports Month. But like I said earlier, we are going to do everything humanly possible to be among the best when it comes to sports in the state. We are ready to partner with the state’s Sports Ministry in any of it programmes that we help in the area of youth empowerment. In fact at our last Executive meeting , I told the official in charge of youth and sports to start putting machinery in place for us to have clear view of all sporting event coming up in the state.

Q: The major bane of sports development in the country and Lagos in particular is lack of funds, how do intend to raise funds to execute these lofty programmes?
A: Yes I agree with you that the bane of sports development in this country is funding, We will try to reach out to corporate bodies and personalities in the local government for sponsorship and supports. I believe if a company comes out and support our initiatives, the company’s products or services become more popular in the community, which to me is a plus for such company. This is another way of paying back to the community where they operate. So I believe when we take off we will have the supports we need.