Is UNILAG Building a Culture of Excellence in Sports?

By Olatoye Ooreoluwatomi, Olawepo Haneef, and Bankole Segun

In the wake of the concluded FASU 2024 games hosted by the University of Lagos, and their emphatic second runner up position finish with 25 gold, 33 silver and 40 bronze medals, and with the NUGA games 22 where UNILAG came 1^st runner up with 86 medals accumulated, it’s safe to say that UNILAG is currently experiencing a tide of sporting excellence.  

But UNILAG has not always been known for excellence in sports. Through significant efforts from athletes and coaching staff, investments into the sporting climate, as well as contributions to sporting activities from key figures, the sporting tradition in UNILAG has evolved over the last two decades.

Dr. Macpherson Ogunsemore was a player and coach for the Unilag Marines famous for helping them end their 13-year streak of missing out on the NUGA Games and  the Higher Institution Football League (HIFL) tournament. From his undergraduate years to his masters and PhD levels, he worked with the school’s football team in various capacities — first as a goalkeeper and  then technical director for the school football team. 

Now an associate lecturer at the department of human kinetics and health education, he recounted his sporting days  at the university and shared his insight on the evolution of UNILAG’s sporting tradition in a recent interview with UNILAG Sun. 

“Engaging in sports in Unilag has always been a social service, where your duty as a student or athlete is to want to represent your school or country with athletes ready to give their all regardless of the benefits involved (endowment fund, accommodation and feeding allowance),” he said. 

“When there’s strong passion for whatever activity you’re involved in, you will go through the work to excel at it.”

The evolution of an impactful sporting tradition has resulted in the addition of a host of honours to the university’s sporting record. Among many others, the university was a runner-up in the 2013 NUGA games with 13 medals, second runner-up at the 2022 NUGA games with 86 medals, 2010 WAUG, with Unilag winning silver in both football and hockey among other medals. A third place finish at the 2024 FASU with 98 medals is the latest addition.  

But like every lasting phenomenon, an era of excellence has to be sustained with the commitment of pivotal individuals and institutions.