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By Olayinka Elebute & Oluwole Francis
Incumbent chairman of the Lagos State Athletics Association, Solomon Alao, has expressed optimism ahead of the Southwest zonal election runoff against the outgoing Vice President of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria, Olamide George, scheduled for Monday in Abuja.
Speaking during the Extra-Ordinary Congress of the AFN in Abuja on Sunday, Alao said he has been receiving warm support from everyone ahead of the election.
“We had a very exciting time during the zonal in Ibadan, it was a tie between myself and the outgoing Vice President of the AFN, Olamide George, it was very interesting but I am optimistic ahead of the runoff on Monday,” he said.
“I have been receiving very warm support from everyone, I am optimistic the result will be favourable.
“However, whatever the outcome of the election, I am ready to support athletics both in Lagos, at the zonal and national.”
Speaking about the task ahead for the incoming board of the AFN, the Lagos athletics boss said the new board would need to build a lot of new structures.
According to him, there has been a lot of problem with AFN in recent time and a lot need to be done so as to return Nigeria to it rightful position.
He added: “It is going to be a big issue with the coming board, there is no gainsaying that things has not been right with the AFN recently, because of that, a lot of things have gone wrong, structures have collapsed, trusts waned between the administrators and the athletes, even with the journalists.
“Now, we have to do things in the right way, we have to start from scratch, we have to rebuild, Nigeria must take back its rightful place.
“I have been in sports in the last 20 years, I will like to bring my experience to bear, not just at the zonal level, but again at the national, I want to tell you that things will begin to change at the Southwest zone, I already have a lot of support, I also have a strong pedigree behind me, not just mine alone, but everyone supporting me.
“I want to thank Prof. Makanjuola, who we all call the oracle in sports management, that’s one of the pedigree I am talking about. I have the opportunity to learn from him first hand, we are going to work together as long as he makes himself available.”
