Lights up in Akoka as 2022 NUGA games begins

UNILAG’s male and female volleyball team training on the newly renovated courts

After months of preparation, university students from across the country have gathered in Lagos to vie for honours in various sporting events. It is the 26th Nigerian Universities Games Association (NUGA) Games, which is featuring athletes from 75 universities, all battling to make their schools the number one sporting higher institution in the country.

The participating universities started arriving in Lagos at the weekend for accreditation and other formalities ahead of the official opening of the competition on Saturday.

According to NUGA officials, preliminary contests in some of the events started on Wednesday in the facilities provided by the host school, University of Lagos (UNILAG).

Speaking on the school’s readiness to host Nigerian students, UNILAG Vice Chancellor, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, at the weekend, promised that everything has been put in place for a successful 2022 games.

As part of efforts to raise the university community’s awareness of the Games, UNILAG organised a preliminary walk around Akoka and its environs, which, Ogundipe said, would “bring new life into the games this year and want our community carried along.”

On what would be different from 1998 when the school last hosted it, he said a far larger number of athletes are participating in the Games this term. He added: “Almost 7000 students from 75 universities will participate in 16 sporting activities.

“For the first time ever, we have produced a torch of unity that we have taken to other universities, and most importantly, we’re not localising the games unlike before. We’re taking it to other places.

“We’re also introducing culture into the games as three Obas