In order to further give grassroots sports a new lease of life in the community, the Executive Chairman of Somolu local government, Hon. Abdul Hamed Salawu ‘Dullar’ has pulled down the old Somolu Table Tennis Hall at Agunbiade to pave for a befitting Table Tennis complex.
The council helmsman in one of his remarks recently said the aim was to give Somolu a befitting table tennis complex where they could train, discover, maintain, and sustain the status quo as the best local government that produces podium-friendly players in the whole of Nigeria and sub-Sahara Africa.
He continued, I can beat my chest that Somolu remains the home of Table Tennis in Nigeria and Africa Sub-sahara and has been harnessing table tennis talents and churning out world-class rated players in the last two decades”.
“Today, we have two Olympians in our kitty; Funke Oshonaike and Jide Omotayo. It’s in history that Funke Oshonaike is the first and the only woman to compete at the Olympics Game seven times. She competed for Nigeria at the 2012, 2016, and 2020, Summer Olympics while Jide Omotayo, another Olympian from the soil of Somolu has also been making us proud both on the African continent and the world at large.
“Not only that, we have the highest number of Table Tennis players in the National team. This is a great record for us and we will do everything sensible to maintain and sustain the record which is the reason why we have decided to build players friendly table tennis hall”. Hon. Dullar said.
The Agba-Akin of Agboyi-Kingdom boasted that the hall when completed would be one of the best table tennis halls with state-of-the-art equipment that a local government could boast of, nothing that strings of competitions would be initiated in line with the tradition of the Somolu Table Tennis Association before the expiration of his tenure.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the community have been showering praises on the council Chairman for fulfilling his promises, especially in the area of infrastructural development, describing his move as the right step in the right direction that will go a long way in reducing drug abuse and other social vices among the youths in the Somolu community and its environs.