Mansur Oladunjoye

20 October 2009

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has promised tax exemption to any company that support sports development in the state.

Fashola, who made the promise in his address during the inauguration of the Lagos State Sports Endowment Fund Board (LSSEFB) headed by the state's former commissioner for finance, Mr. Wale Edun in his Alausa Ikeja office, said the gesture became necessary to revive sports and discourage the daily misfortune that has continued to trail it.

According to him, investment in sports with either time or money is not a quick fix investment, adding that often times, those who make the investment and commitment may not see it manifest in their time.

"There is a breeding time and I do not think there is this better time to begin to make that investment than now "But if we are not winning, we are hosting and we must also remember that some contested to host this championship where we won the right to host and we must host right and well," he said.

Fashola reacting to comments that the Nigerian players did not proceed beyond the first round explained that, "it is not that the Nigerian players lack the talents; it is because there is no institutional support for them from home.

"If the players don't get sponsorship to go out, to cover their air travel cost, coaching fees, hotel costs, kits cost, they can't improve in tournament, which is what is happening in other jurisdictions," he stressed.

He noted that his government did not believe in impossibility, saying; "with this institutionalized organizations in place, Lagos would in no too distance future be able to play host to the Olympic events like Rio de Janeiro Brazil, that is the goal we set for ourselves and we want to work toward it because we believe they are achievable. If Rio can host the Olympic, then Lagos can."

Earlier, the Commissioner for Youths Sports and Social development, Prince Ademola Adeniji Adele said that the inauguration of the board would enable the government to harness the enormous potentials to achieve its vision on sports.

"We have witnessed how sports drove development all over the world and we can replicate the same in Lagos State. The state has won the 2012 National Sports Festival with the theme: "Driving infrastructural development through sports."

We intend to use our experience in hosting the U-17 World Cup to develop our capacity to host the 2012 games and other international competitions," he said.

Meanwhile, Wale Edun commended Fashola for the honour and assured that the board would not let him down.

To serve alongside Edun are: Rear Admiral Oni (rtd), Rasheed Kolarinwa, Chief Emeka Dike, Ayo Ositelu, Tunde Savage and Sani Dangote as well as five directors from the Ministries of Information, Finance, Tourism, Home Affairs, Sports and Local Government.



http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200910200968.html

Great initiative.