Sports-loving chairman of Surulere Local Government, Tajudeen Ajide, has called on the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the National Sports Commission (NSC) to always assign the right people to national duties.
Victoriuos Surulere Local Government Team, with officials after presentation of the trophy and the prize money
In a chat with TheNiche at the awards ceremony to winners at the end of this year’s Lagos Junior League held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos on Tuesday, Ajide, whose council won the league title and a cash prize of N1 million, attributed the success of the team to effective management.
“We did nothing extraordinary. What we did was to ensure that we put the round peg in the round hole and ensure that the players were effectively motivated,” he said.
Ajide, an ex-international himself, said the NFF and the NSC officials can also achieve success if they do the right thing all the time.
Ojo LG was second, while Ifako-Ijaiye LG was third. Players of Ojo went home with N900,000 and those of Ifako-Ijaiye got N800,000.
In the League 1 section, Orile Agege came tops with N1 million prize, while Ibeju Lekki got N900,000 for placing second. Egbe Idimu placed third and received N800,000.
The Most Valuable Player (MVP) award went to Salami Azeez of Mushin, while the Coach of the Year award went to Bili Tanni of Surulere. Samson Makambi of Ojo won the Best Goalkeeper award in the Premier section while Michael Dairo of Orile Agege won the League 1 section award.
Akeem Taiwo of Ifako Ijaiye won the Golden Boot award with 13 goals from 19 matches in the Premier section, while Etim Akpan of Orile Agege emerged the Highest Goals Scorer in the League 1 section with six goals.
Technical director of the League, Tunde Disu, said in five years since inception of the Lagos J-League, over 4,000 players have played in the league, making it the most viable grassroots competition.
“The Lagos J-League has produced from within its ranks numerous players like Dele Alampasu, Ndidi Wilfred, Mustapha Abdullahi, Akindele Idowu among others who have and are still representing the country in various age-grade international competitions,” he said.