Lagos School Wins Western Conference at Nestlé MILO Basketball Tourney
By THECONSCIENCEng
Topfield College, Ajegunle, Lagos State has won both the girls’ and boys’ categories in the Western Conference of the 23rd MILO Secondary Schools Basketball Championship held on Monday June 5, 2023 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan.
In the girls’ category of the championship, Topfield College defeated their counterparts from Kings International College, Moniya, Ibadan Oyo State by 36 points to 30 points in a keenly contested encounter.
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The boys also defeated rivals from Adedokun International School, Ota, Ogun State by 48 points to 17 points in a one-sided game.
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The school coach, Mr. Godswill Anukaku said, “It was a great privilege to play on the platform.”
“So, I feel very happy and proud that we are moving to the nationals in Lagos, just as we did last year. We won in the conference here but did not really perform to the best of our abilities in the nationals, where we finished in third place. But, I assure you that this year we are going to the nationals to come first in both the boys and girls categories.”
The Permanent Secretary of the Oyo State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mrs. C. A. Abioye thanked Nestlé for their invaluable support over the years.
She also called on other corporate bodies to follow suit by supporting school sports.
Speaking further, Mrs. Abioye said, “The Oyo State Government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that Sports is taken to higher heights. One of such efforts is the upgrading of the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, including the Indoor Sports Hall, the venue of this program.
The government encourages students’ participation in sports by supporting inter house sports competitions, which are yielding favorable results in students’ performance at competitions”.
Both girls and boys from Topfield College, Ajegunle, Lagos State have now qualified to play in the national finals of the competition in Lagos in July.
Other teams who will be in Lagos for the national finals are winners from the already concluded Savannah Conference which held in Kano from the 3rd to the 10th of May, Central Conference held at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja from the 12th to 19th of May and Atlantic Conference which held in Asaba from 20th to the 27th of May, 2023.
Nestlé Nigeria’s MILO Secondary School Basketball Championship has been
promoting the value of grit for over 23 years, helping school children learn essential life skills such as resilience, persistence, stamina, cooperation, and self-belief.
The move is to enable them overcome challenges and achieve their goals in life.
The MILO Basketball Championship has grown tremendously from about 500 schools at its commencement in 1999. It now reaches over 150,000 individual players from over 10,000 schools across Nigeria every year.
