The first South West Athletics Secondary Schools Invitational and Relays will hold between November 11 and 13, 2021 at the Teslim Balogun stadium in Lagos.
This was announced as part of the resolutions reached after the two-day meeting of the executive board of the South West Athletics which was held over the weekend in Lagos.
The athletics meeting will be the first in the series of programmes of activities released by the governing body for track and field in the South-West zone affiliated to the Athletics Federation of Nigeria.
In the communique released after the meeting, the secondary schools Invitational and Relays will be preceded by a seminar on doping for elite athletes from the zone and certified coaches.
The South West Athletics is also mapping out plans for an inclusive all secondary schools athletics competition that will be held in all the 18 senatorial zones in the six states that make up the zone namely Lagos Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti.
The competition will have the senators representing all the 18 senatorial zones fully involved as part of their constituency projects.
The association has also set up a committee headed by Professor Olatunde Makanju, chairman of Osun state athletics association to interface with various institutions in Nigeria and abroad with a view to creating scholarship opportunities for talents discovered during its competitions.
An Athletics Academy will also be set up to ensure talents discovered are monitored and nurtured to become elite athletes capable of representing Nigeria at international competitions including the Olympic Games.
The South West Athletics congratulated the Youth and Sports Development Minister, Sunday Dare, for creating the enabling environment for the growth of track and field in Nigeria.
The association also formally congratulated the chairman of Lagos State Athletics Association, Dr Solomon Dayo Alao on his election as the representative of the zone on the board of the AFN.
AFN President, Tonobock Okowa was also hailed for leading Nigerian track and field back to the podium at the Olympics for the first time since 2008 and for leading the U20 team to its best-ever performance in history of the World U-20 Athletics Championships.
Sprinter Enoch Adegoke who returned Nigeria to the final of the 100m at the Olympics since 1996, and sprint hurdler, Tobiloba Amusan who made history with her Wanda Diamond League victory in Zurich, were also hailed for being worthy ambassadors of the zone