The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is set to host the 26th edition of the Nigerian Universities Games Association(NUGA) event for the fourth time since its inception in 1966.

The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, revealed this at a press briefing on Tuesday at the Unilag Senate Chambers, adding that the games have been scheduled to hold between March 16 and 26, 2022.

Professor Ogundipe said the university won the hosting right for the bi-annual inter-tertiary competition after defeating the University of Jos, scoring 76 points against the latter’s 66 points in what can be described as keenly contested.

He lamented the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the commencement of the games, as it was initially scheduled to be held in 2020. He said: “This was to have been held in 2020 but the global COVID-19 pandemic disrupted things. The NUGA Council has now given the go-ahead to the new dates of 16th to 26th March 2022, and this is why we are here.”

He expressed hopes that hosting the NUGA games would help UNILAG show the world what the university is capable of doing as a brand and proclaimed that the games will be a City game where certain sports activities will be done outside the university premises like the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Rowe park et al to ensure visiting student-athletes and officials have a holistic Lagos experience.

He added that the NUGA games will feature 136 universities and about 10,000 student-athletes and officials will participate in 17 different games.

The games, according to Professor Ogundipe, are football, volleyball, basketball, handball, lawn tennis, table tennis, badminton, hockey, cricket, chess, taekwondo, judo, swimming, karate, athletics, squash, and boxing.

He quelled the security and medical concerns of the press by explaining that 14 sub-committees in conjunction with the UNILAG-NUGA Local Organizing Committee (LOC)  have been created to ensure the smooth running of the games.