By: Adekunle Oni-Daniel
A group of the University of Ibadan sports captains has drawn the attention of the management of the University of Ibadan to what they described as pressing concerns affecting them.
The sports captains, in a letter addressed to the University management and other relevant stakeholders on Saturday, Auguest 16, 2025, raised issues affecting their sports experiences at the University.
The concerns highlighted by the captains include “restricted access to sports activities, limitation on external competition participation, neglect of inter-hall and inter-faculty competitions, limited access use and accessibility of sports Council buses and unavailability of training equipment and lack of concern regarding such.”
“Our teams sports have also faced repeated restrictions from participating in, or representing the University at significant external competitions, including WAUG (West African University Games), World University Games trials, All African University Games, and Nigerian University Games (NUGA), among others,” the statement reads.
It added, “On rare occasions, when the buses are accessible, teams are required to pay additional fees. For instance, in the last session, while a school team had a tournament within Ibadan using a chartered bus, the official school team bus was returning to campus, highlighting a lack of prioritization for athletes.All sports in the university always have to purchase training equipment from the pockets of the sports persons participating. No sport has any equipment that can be said is for the said sports team.”
The sports captains urged the management to address the raised concerns by ensuring “unrestricted access to sports facilities for all registered sports teams, full participation of university teams in all relevant external competitions, regular hosting of Inter-hall and Inter-faculty events, access to sports council transportation without additional financial burdens, and provision of sports equipments for the utilization of different sports activities.”
In an interview with IndyPress on Saturday, August 16, 2025, the University of Ibadan Students’ Union Sports Secretary, Victor Kolawole, assured that the Students’ Union leadership would address the concerns.
“A response will be given in due time, as it is addressed to the Students’ Union Executives. Be rest assured that the Students’ Union leadership is working on this. The welfare of sportsmen in the university is our priority,” Kolawole Victor said.
