THE University of Lagos (UNILAG) is set to host the 26th edition of the Nigerian Universities Games Association Games (NUGA) coming up between March 16 and 26, 2022.
About 136 public and private universities nationwide with no fewer than 10,000 students are expected to participate in 17 sporting events which include football, boxing, swimming, karate, volley, basketball and handball, among others.
The vice chancellor of UNILAG, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, gave this hint at a media briefing to show the preparedness of the university to host a hitch-free event which was originally slated for last year, but was postponed due to COVID-19 general lockdown.
He disclosed that the university bid to host the event with the University of Jos and defeated its rival by scoring 76 (against UNIJOS’s 66 points) and consequently paid N6 million obligatory fees to the NUGA Council.
He said though some sport facilities are still undergoing massive renovation and reconstruction to meet international standards, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had been partnered to screen all the participating students to ensure they are bona fide students of Nigerian universities.
He said the Games had been tagged ‘A City Nuga’ as some of the events would be taken outside UNILAG to create awareness about the unity sports brings to the country.
Going down the memory lane, Professor Ogundipe said UNILAG had hosted the event thrice, first in 1968, second in 1978 and third some10 years after with the university coming first in 1988 and 1998.
“So, we are hosting this coming one with determination to come first again,” he added.
He, however, asked individuals, philanthropists, industry chiefs, corporate organisations and various state governments to join hands with the university by supporting financially and in kind to make the event a huge success.