Lagos. –  Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State would be special guest at the 2nd Africa Athletics Masters (AAM), billed for Lagos, an official of the Nigeria Athletics Masters (NAM) said in Lagos on Monday.

Uruemu Adu, the Secretary, NAM, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the governor was being recognised as the first athletics masters personality, because of his love for sports.

The NAM is scheduled to hold from May 30 to June 1 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium and the National Stadium, both in Surulere, Lagos.

 “The governor of Lagos State, being a sports lover, has given his support to the athletics masters. So, we decided to make him a recognised athlete for the competition,’’ Adu stressed.

He noted that Bolaji Abdullahi, the Minister of Sports, had also commended the idea of engaging former athletes taking part in sporting events.

“We are also expecting the honourable minister of sports to grace the event because it has to do with former athletes who have done Nigeria and Africa proud,’’ Adu said.

Meanwhile, Yusuf Alli, a former Commonwealth Gold medallist in the long jump, told NAN that he was looking forward to the competition, saying, he was missing his favourite event.

“I am looking forward to my showmanship — getting fans to clap for me as I take a jump, even when this is not really a scoring event.

“I really miss my active days in the sport,’’ he said.

Adu appealed to sponsors to identify with the competition, saying that the competition had yet to gain the needed support from corporate organisations.

“The problems we are still facing are lack of sponsorship. We have not received the needed support, nevertheless, the masters will hold in Lagos.

“We had to ask for permission from the president of AAM to postpone the event, but we were told that we cannot shift the date,’’ he added. (NAN)