!
It is evening.
I am driving past this magnificent monument.
It catches my full attention.
It stands beautiful and majestic, wearing a happy face, a timeless edifice for Sport and for the people of Ogun State.
I remember vividly how, one year ago, almost to the day, this place, re-christened MKO Abiola International Sports Arena, did not ‘sleep’ for two whole weeks when Ogun State hosted the ‘Gateway Games 2024’, between May 16 and May 30, 2025.
During the two weeks of the National Sports Festival, the MKO International Sports Arena became the social, cultural and commercial nerve-centre of Abeokuta. The Games transformed the town, showcasing the outlines of a potential sports ecosystem with ‘bright future’ inscribed all over it.
The opening and closing ceremonies of the Festival must go down in history as two of Prince Dapo Abiodun’s great moments as Governor of Ogun State.
Free of the encumbrances of politics, twice he stood proudly and majestically on a podium before a global audience, welcoming and sending forth attendees at the great festival of peace, unity and friendship through Sport amongst Nigerians.
Since then, the MKO Abiola International
Sports Arena has hosted more international sports events (football and athletics) than any other facility in Nigeria.
Since then, the governor has redeemed his pledge to the participating athletes of Ogun State that excelled, with rewards that are unprecedented in the history of the State. Many of the lives of the lucky athletes have been changed for good, forever with the ample generosity of the governor.
Since then, the Governor has also appointed Nigeria’s first Grand Sports Ambassador of a State, thereby adding a new place of honour for athletes that distinguish themselves after Sport!
Today, amongst the major achievements of the outgoing administration, the MKO Abiola International Sports Arena and the city of Abeokuta, stand out as new centres for international sport in Nigeria, and must count as additions to Dapo Abiodun’s legacies.
The evidence is there for everyone to see.
As the governor prepares to complete his work in Ogun State, I am thinking.
He can choose to go one step farther and bow out in grand style with a shot at a new sports project. He can deploy his creativity (even at this late hour ) to engage and renovate the Otunba Dipo Dina International Stadium in Ijebu Ode, by wrapping a sports event around it, and creating a new socio-cultural, economic and sports hub in Ijebu Ode that will deservedly add to the count of his legacies in Ogun State!
Meanwhile, I congratulate Prince Adedapo Oluseun Abiodun, MFR, CON, on behalf of all citizens of Ogun State, on the first anniversary of the end of the ‘Gateway Games 2025’.
Olusegun Odegbami MON, OLY, Grand Sports Ambassador
