By Princewill Ekwujuru

Once again, Lagos State, host state to the National Sports Festival (NSF) scheduled for November/December 2012, has created a new tagline; ‘Go Lagos, Ignite The Spirit of Friendship to drive the festival.

Coming as a creative sequel to its ‘Lagos Own The Game’ theme for the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Lagos State Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), while speaking at a Media Conference organised by the Marketing and Sponsorship Sub-Committee of the LOC in Lagos assured that Lagos State is set to host the best NSF ever.

She said for this reason, wide range innovations that will give the sports fiesta an international outlook and make it distinct from any past event are being introduced. To ensure the state government delivers on this promise, the Marketing and Sponsorship Sub-Committee has engaged the services of two leading marketing communications firms, Chain Reactions Nigeria and Insight Communications Limited, as Joint Lead Consultants to develop the overarching strategic communications plan for Eko 2012.

The theme has been carefully crafted to be a call to action on the one hand and an easy to recall cliché for the youth population the campaign is targeted at. While extrapolating the theme and its strategic underpinnings, Lagos State Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Mr. Waheed Enitan Oshodi said, “our intent is indeed to make Lagosians and Nigerians see more than the games.

We want them to see the miracle of friendship. You can see that we are confidently expressing that intent on all our banners here today. One of our key messages during Eko 2012 is for people to see more than the games as they come to Lagos.

We will be showcasing the best of our businesses and entertainment and this is quite significant as it goes beyond the realm of sports alone. So, for those planning to come to Lagos to see just a beehive of sporting activities, get ready to see more than the games”

Also speaking at the event on the strategic underpinnings of the theme developed by Insight Communications Limited and Chain Reactions Nigeria, Sarah Agha, a Business Director with Insight Communications explained that the agencies explored Sports, Business and Entertainment as critical pillars around which engagements during Eko 2012 will revolve. “What you are about to witness is therefore not just a sports meet but an exciting fusion of Sports, Business and Entertainment.

Therefore, we have created, together with our partners at Chain Reactions Nigeria, three exciting pillars of experiences built around Sports, Business and Entertainment with the big idea being, Friendship and we have woven this into an easy-to-recall single-minded proposition, Go Lagos, Ignite the Spirit of Friendship.”