Daily Independent (Lagos)
Julius Okorie
1 December 2008
Lagos — As the nation awaits confirmation of new ministers by the Senate, sponsor of the longest reigning Table Tennis championship in the country, Molade Okoya-Thomas, says it behooves on the would-be minister of sports to give every sport an opportunity to blossom.
Apart from that, according to him, the era of late and poor preparation for international meets should be jettisoned for good.
The nation, he said ought to have achieved more than it has over the years if early preparations had been made a tradition.
The Asoju-Oba of Lagos and chancellor, Lagos State University (LASU), who was speaking at the end of the 40th edition of the Asoju-Oba Tennis championship at the weekend in Lagos, maintained that the nation boasts of a lot of talents capable of making a huge difference at the international arena if given the needed support.
Okoya-Thomas, who regretted that the nation has not been able to clinch a gold medal at the Olympics in Table Tennis in spite of the 40 years of his championship, submitted that it takes more than just sponsoring a championship to win international laurels, describing his effort in the past 40 years as complimentary.
If the full harvest of his efforts is to be realised, Okoya-Thomas said it must be supported by other individuals and corporate bodies, while the best hands must be allowed to administer sports in the country.
"The Asoju-Oba Cup is not the only contribution I have made to the development of sports in the country. A look into records will give you details of what I have contributed to move the sector forward. That we have not been able to win a gold medal in Table Tennis at the Olympics is not my fault. There are certain things we have to do to be able to win gold. The players are doing their best, let the others especially the administrators at the national level do theirs so that we can bring glory to our country, not only in Table Tennis, but also in other sports," he said.
The finals of the 40th edition of the championship, which ended Saturday at the Mobolaji Johnson Indoor Sports Hall of the Rowe Park had over 268 players in action.
Apart from men and ladies champions, who went home with saloon cars for their effort, winners in the junior and cadet categories equally went home with other mouth-watering largesse.
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