Adekoyejo Adegbesan, the newly sworn-in Chairman of the Ogun Scrabble Association, says his appointment is a call to duty and his mission will be to revamp the mind game.
Adegbesan said this on Wednesday in Abeokuta, when the seven-member board of the Ogun Scrabble Association was sworn-in by the state government along with the boards of 35 other sports.
He said the desire to discover more talents and bring them into national limelight made it imperative for him to take up the assignment.
“It’s a great opportunity to finally get to this point where the new boards of various sport associations are inaugurated in the state.
“It’s a call to duty and we will take it firmly. It is our earnest desire to succeed and we will definitely succeed with the aid of well-meaning individuals and sponsors.
“The catchy thing about Scrabble is the World Scrabble Championship.
“Nigeria has consistently been the best performing country in the world.
“Scrabble is played in many countries and a lot of people play the sport in their homes. So, it has garnered listening ears already.
“We just need to put in some more work to make it a more spectator-friendly sports.
“We’re hopeful as everything points to the fact that Scrabble will get to the position where football is in this nation,” Adegbesan said.
He said part of the board’s plan was to make the various zones in the state active, while competitions would be organised among schools.
He also revealed that the association would seek ways of engaging individuals who are out of school.
Also, the Permanent Secretary, Ogun Ministry of Sports, Mr Olayiwola Abiodun, called for cooperation between the sport associations and the ministry.
Abiodun, who was represented by Iyabode Rotimi, the ministry’s Director of Sport, added that cooperation was necessary for the state to have a good showing at the 2022 National Sports Festival in Delta in November.
After the swearing in ceremony, members of the board took a walk around the Scrabble Section of the Abeokuta Sports Club where they discussed on how to move the mind game to a higher level.
Earlier, the board had inspected the Playing Hall at the Ogun State Sports Centre with a view to making it more conducive for use.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adegbesan will run the affairs of Scrabble in the state with Lukman Owolabi as the Vice-Chairman.
Other members are Bimbo Okusanya, Bukunmi Afolayan and Lawrence Adesola, while Tayo Ogunseye will serve as the Media Officer with Kehinde Osho as the Secretary.
Scrabble was introduced in Ogun in 2002 by the state government.
The government said that it desired to widen the scope of the much-loved mind game in the country, and turn it into a sport of international repute in the state. (NAN)
