Nigeria To Host 11th All Africa University Games
The University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Lagos State University (LASU) have been announced as the next hosts of FASU All Africa University Games billed for 2024.
This was disclosed at the just-concluded 10th edition of the bi-annual games, which was hosted by Kenyatta University in Kenya, where Nigeria was unveiled as the next hosts of the games at the closing ceremony.
Lagos State University and Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) were Nigeria’s representatives in Kenya and they both bagged a total of 11 medals, with LASU bagging 10 medals to finish 17th on the table. UNIZIK got just one bronze medal to finish bottom of the table.
Nigeria, ranked eight out of the 12 countries that participated in the 10th All Africa University Games, overtook Cote d’Ivoire, who were originally scheduled to host the games in 2024.
The All Africa University Games brings together the continent’s top university athletes to compete for prestigious titles. The competition has an upper age limit of 25 years and only formal university students can compete.
After a postponement in 2020 due to the global pandemic, over 4, 000 athletes competed in Nairobi, Kenya, with the event rounding up at the weekend. The All Africa University Games (FASU Games) are organised once every two years as a flagship event with 10 editions having been held already.
The format of participation at the games changed from national university teams to individual universities since the eighth FASU Games in South Africa in 2016. Nigeria last hosted the games in 2004 in Bauchi State, where 15 nations competed.
The organisers have said that about 5000 athletes will participate in the next edition as more universities will be added to the competition.
Chidi Nwoke/The Guardian.
