Nigeria can host 2030 World Cup, says Odegbami
By Dotun Omisakin, Lagos | Published Date Jan 30, 2019 0:47 AM
Segun Odegbami
A former Green Eagles player Chief Segun Odegbami has said Nigeria can host the FIFA World Cup in 2030 if necessary physical infrastructures and government policies are put in place.
Odegbami, who stated this while delivering his speech at the inaugural Deji Tinubu Memorial Symposium, with the themed: "Combining Sports and Education", added that to set proper structures that would harness the potentials in sports, the right mind must be in power.
"The truth is that if you are not in power and full of ideas, those ideas cannot go anywhere. In Lagos state, the change started from Fashola because he loves sports and that is motivation.
"I want to build football fields in Ogun state and generations to come will benefit and by 2030, Nigeria can host the world cup. So that is my dream," he said.
Odegbami, who is a gubernatorial candidate in Ogun State under the platform of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), stressed that education is the bedrock for sports to thrive, saying that they go hand in hand.
He however lamented that ignorance about opportunities embedded in both sports and education had been the reason some sportsmen divorce them, and advised youths to focus on their dream.
"But the challenge is ignorance; we have a government which pays much attention on the area of sports and youth development. Look at our universities and colleges, how much attention does the government has in education?" He asked.