Alli and Team ESSC herald a new dawn in Edo Sports

Less than six months after its inauguration the Edo State Sports Commission(ESSC) has recorded many milestones. Olukayode Thomas who has worked and walked with ESSC Executive Chairman Yussuf Alli for decades is not surprised  

From the moment Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state announced Asien Ighodalo, Uyi Akpata, Emmanuel Igbinosa, Frank Ilaboya as members of the board of Edo State Sports Commission (ESSC) with Sabina Chikere as Permanent Secretary and Yussuf Alli as Executive Chairman, I knew the story of sports in Edo State will change for the better.

Not only do they have the capacity to bring back the glorious days of Edo sports in the old Bendel State, they have what it takes to surpass it and set a new standard that will be a template not just for other states in Nigeria to copy but other parts of the world.

While I must confess that I don’t know the members of the esteemed board but I have known Yussuf Alli since 1984 when a High School student and I have worked and walked with him since 1996 when I joined The Guardian Newspapers as a cub reporter.

Alli passion for work, especially hard work, in the face of adversity strained the descriptive of power a single adjective.

As a member of the board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) between 2013 and 2017 Solomon Ogba then president told me after our inauguration that ‘you won’t see most the board members again once they realized there is no money to share.’

True to Ogba’s words, shortly after the 2013 All Nigeria Athletics Championships, most of the board members disappeared, save for occasional appearances, it was only Alli and I with Ogba’s financial support ran the AFN programme for four years.

When we started the Lagos City Marathon and organized the first edition within weeks, officials of World Athletics were surprised at Alli’s transition from a world-class jumper to a consummate organizer of marathons and road races.

That’s Alli, always willing to learn new things, not scared or intimidated by mountainous work, ready to work long hours and make sacrifices.

The period also marks the beginning of my education in the technical aspect of athletics and sports generally.  It’s to my teacher, Alli, credit that in less than a decade I have learned so much to be appointed the Race Director of the Abuja International Marathon slated for December 17, 2022.

Not just myself, Alli in the last two decades has trained so many youths in every part of sports administration and management, especially, the technical aspect for free.

Back to ESSC

When Alli was appointed in February 2022, I told everybody that Edo State’s story in sports will change for the best. Apart from Alli’s vast knowledge in sports which cut across all aspects of the industry, Alli is blessed to have Governor Obaseki and his Deputy Philip Shaibu who are not just sportsmen but are passionate about sports and will invest in any idea or project that will add value to the state.

Secondly, members of Alli’s board are worth their weight in gold. They are men who will at every opportunity add value to the board rather than be a liability. In Chikere, Alli has a sister and friend, so I believed the board will work like five fingers.

The feats of Alli, his board members and the management and staff of ESSC in less than six months have surpassed my expectations.

They have not only put machinery in motion for an Elite Development Program that will see Edo State producing world-class sportsmen and women in the next few years, they have in less than six months turned Edo State into the Mecca of Sports relegating Delta State and Lagos State to distance second and third place respectively.

Within the period under the review, ESSC has hosted the Athletics Federation of Nigeria All Comers. This was shortly after the board was inaugurated and athletes, officials, media and other stakeholders that were in Benin for the event praised the organizational acumen of the men and women of ESSC.

The technical aspect of sports in Nigeria, especially coaching and officiating, are endangered. Alli and his team on the assumption of the office quickly organized a workshop to train the trainers.

The Race Director of Okpekpe 10km Road Race from inception Alli’s presence in Edo State ensures that the 2022 edition was not only more glamorous but more completive with a bigger and classier elite field and top-level technical delegates from different parts of the world.

If Okpekpe, a World Athletics Silver Label Race should be upgraded to World Athletics Gold Label Race next year, it will be down to Alli and his team’s managerial acumen.

Within the period under review, Alli and his team also ensured that the newly constructed Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium which hosted the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival did not become an elephant project.

 The stadium has been busy and recently, it hosted the biggest and the best sporting event in Nigeria this year, the All Nigeria Athletics Championships, which serves as a trial for the Oregon 2022 World Athletics Championships and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The cream de la cream of Nigerian athletes from different parts of the world was in Benin to compete for medals and a place in the Nigerian team to Oregon and Birmingham.

Apart from the trials keeping Edo State in the media positively for weeks, it has a positive effect on the state economy, many youths were engaged and employed and the World Samuel Ogbemudia was put into positive use.

But more importantly, the trial shows the young sportsmen and women that Alli and the team are grooming in the state Elite Athlete Development program and what the future has for them if they are serious and focused.

Unknown to many, Alli’s primary constituency in sports was not athletics but football. Captain of his school team during the golden era of Principal Cup in Lagos State before his qualification for the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games altered his sports career, Alli and been fair to all sports especially football with the hosting of the National Women Football League (NWFL) Super 6 and the ultimate was the return of Bendel Insurance to the NPFL.

This is a major achievement that will change the face of football and sports in Edo State.

Other achievements

When the International Olympics Committee (IOC) asked former NBA star and the president of Nigeria Olympians Association (NOA) Olumide Oyedeji to name a venue in Nigeria for the NOC-AC IOC 360 Career Training Workshop he did not think before naming Edo State as his preferred destination. Why? ‘’ Yussuf Alli is our legend and within a month he has given life to sports in Edo State, the only way we can support him is to ensure that international programs especially from IOC and ANOCA are moved to Edo State so that we could showcase what an Olympian, a former captain of Team Nigeria is doing to a global audience’’ said Oyedeji.

The program sits well with Alli an advocate of sportsmen and women being trained before transiting to coaching, officiating, administration, and other aspects of sports administration and management.

After his sports career, Alli went for training in sports events management in Australia and the United Kingdom, this probably accounted for his many achievements including being named today the father of marathon and road races in Nigeria despite starting out as a jumper cum sprinter.

Alli and his team have also ensured the reconstitution of the board of sports associations with competent hands and are currently overhauling the staff of ESSC to ensure that only competent hands who are passionate about what they are employed to do, who understand the vision of Obaseki and Shuaibu for sports are employed.

With Alli and his team in the driving seat, the sky is the starting point for the new ESSC.