{
  "id": 4972104,
  "title": "LOC to Use EKO 2026 to Drive School Sports Devt",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/loc-to-use-eko-2026-to-drive-school-sports-devt",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-02T00:17:17.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "This Day",
    "slug": "this-day",
    "url": "https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/09/02/loc-to-use-eko-2026-to-drive-school-sports-devt/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the maiden National Intermediate Games, EKO 2026, has revealed plans to leverage the event as a platform for fostering school sports development and identifying young talents. Scheduled to take place in Lagos from October 1 to 15, 2026, the Games are expected to attract around 15,000 athletes from all 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory. The LOC, chaired by Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Sam Egube, emphasized that EKO 2026 will not be treated as a one-off sporting event, but rather as a sustainable platform for talent identification, monitoring, and development. Egube stated that athletes will benefit from tangible incentives, opportunities for support, and training immediately after the event, while new schools and modern sporting facilities will be integrated to ensure talents are nurtured within school programmes.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}