Image caption: Bronze winner Joshua Makinde with his school colleagues from EABGS Ogbomoso
Emmanuel Agboola BGS Ogbomoso student wins bronze at MTN Champs athletics competition in Ibadan
Yinka ADETUNJI
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A student of Emmanuel Agboola Baptist Grammar School (EABGS), Ogbomoso, Oyo state, Friday, won bronze medal at the MTN Champs Season 4 tournament that just ended in Ibadan, Oyo state capital.
Participating in the 400m race, the student, Joshua Makinde, who ran on lane 3, took third position in the hotly contested final involving seven others to win the bronze medal in a time of 50. 2 secs.
The tournament organized by telecommunication giant, MTN, took place at the Lekan Sakami Stadium, Adamasingba, and at the University of Ibadan (UI) Sports Complex. The 400m race meanwhile took place at the UI Sports Complex.
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Students from across Nigeria and beyond participated in the 4-day tournament. MTN Nigeria noting it is building future champions, hailed all the participants at the close of the tournament on Friday. “Congratulations to everyone who stepped onto the track or field, because showing up alone is a win over self-doubt and fear,” the company states in a post. “To our medalists and cash prize winners, this is just the beginning. Bigger stages, tougher challenges, larger crowds … you are ready for it all.” This is as it encouraged the athletes to further hone their skills. “This is not the time to stop. Keep going.”
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Joshua Makinde is a budding athlete as he also came second in the Ogbomoso Marathon Race (5km) held in December. But since marathon was not included in the MTN Champs he took part in 200m and 400m but finished out of medal range in the 200m.
Video of a scene from the final of 400m race
“I am happy over my feat. It was not the best but still worth it. I thank our principal, Mr. Femi Ogunlana, for encouraging sports development in the school. He often tells us we need to discover our talents that life is not all about learning a trade or art, or riding commercial okada but that some of us can end up in sports and become international stars. Some of us have imbibed this,” Joshua Makinde told ogbomosoinsightonline.com.
He continued, “Yes, 18 of us participated in the Ogbomoso Marathon Race in December and impressively students from our school, Emmanuel Agboola Baptist Grammar School dominated competition in the 5km category as we took first, second, third position in the male category and first and third in the female category and interestingly we took fourth to tenth also in both categories. The principal got us a coach, whom we call ‘Coach Akin,’ he trains us in football and athletics and he’s the one that informed the principal about the MTN Champs Season4. We trained for it though it was not intensive like we did during the marathon race because of the second term exams but seven of us still went to Ibadan to participate.”
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Also speaking, Coach Akin, whose full name is Hezekiah Odelade Akinkunmi, expressed joy at the performance of the students, noting the students did well within the limited resources. He also thanked the principal of the school for supporting the nurturing of the students and exposing them to competitions.
Coach Akin with Joshua
Coach Akin who is also a football agent said, “The feat of Joshua is impressive. Others performed well too but Joshua really made us proud. Looking at the resources available and the limited training session we had before we went for the competition, it is inspiring we didn’t come back home empty-handed. I thank the principal, Mr. Ogunlana, for his efforts in nurturing the students. If these students take this path in the future, we may have national and world champions among them. He often says why should Ogbomoso not have its Tobi Amusans, Blessing Okagbares, Anthony Joshuas, Ademola Lookman and so on. It is not easy but we will do our bit in helping the students. Sports is a big foreign exchange earner nowadays. Emmanuel Agboola Baptist Grammar School even does not have a standard athletic/ football pitch but we manage with what is available. Our leaders should encourage sports.”
Joshua Makinde with the silver medalist in the 400m
Joshua Makinde wwith his teacher, Mr. Bukola Olawale
Joshua Makinde is an SS 2 science student. One of the games masters in the school, Mr. Bukola Olawale, who went with the students to Ibadan, disclosed Joshua also ran the 400m and 200m in the recently held inter-house athletic competition in the school. “His MTN Champs’s feat really made us proud, and indeed made Ogbomoso proud because the name of the school and Ogbomoso were constantly announced during the races and for him to have made it to the medals’ podium is scintillating. The students now know they can perform at the biggest stage. Our five days in Ibadan were tough, we slept at the stadium, bitten by mosquitoes but still being able to come home with a medal amid great schools from Lagos and across Nigeria actually gave us goose pimples.”
The recent inter-house sports in the school was supported by Alhaji Abdulmajeed Oladimeji Solademi (chairman Yijifarz Cargoes), Aare Kunle Tanwa (CEO Tanwa Motors Ibadan), Hon. Kayode Akande II ( a former lawmaker) and Buoda Sunday Adeyemo, BSA (a business tycoon), Engr Lekan Olaniyan (Lagos), Dr. Prince Dele Oyewo (US Navy/USPHS Pharmacist), Dr Wole Akintonde (LAUTECH), Mrs. Bose Oladimeji (US), Agbaakin Amstrong Olaleye Alaaje Ologo Reuben Adesina Amao JP among others.
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