There was uproar at the Osogbo Township Stadium as some individuals revolted against a former Osun State Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Yemi Lawal, over his alleged treatment of athletes and sports officials during his tenure.
AFRESH247 recalls that Lawal who served as commissioner under the administration of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, was at the stadium, to inspect the facility ahead of the second-term inauguration of Governor Ademola Adeleke when he was accosted by the aggrieved sports personnel.
In a video circulating on social media, on Tuesday the individuals expressed displeasure over what they described as unfavourable policies and alleged mistreatment of athletes and coaches during Lawal’s tenure.
Some of the sports personnel accused the former commissioner of neglecting their welfare, failing to respond to requests for assistance during official trips and taking decisions they claimed negatively affected the operations of the state’s sports ministry.
One of the aggrieved individuals said “You will never be given the authority of anything called sport again with what you did to us. We were stranded in Abuja, you never heed to our calls, it took intervention of a player to pay our bills. May we never experience your kind of tenure again.
“The tenure of Lawal is worst than pharaoh, he would not talk and be punishing us. He is very wicked, we travelled for three days and he approved N1,500 as food allowance, this use to bring tears to me anytime I remember.”
Another one said, “We traveled one time, our bus got spoilt, we called him for financial assistance to repair the vehicle, he snubbed our calls and switched off his phones, we were in bush for three days. He should not be appointed to any committee in Osun State.
“He sees to sacking of some workers in the sport ministry. He disorganised our operations, it is not fair at all. He doesn’t know anything about the ministry. It is so unfortunate that Oyetola appointed him and now he is struggling to enter Adeleke’s government.”
However, efforts to obtain Lawal’s reaction to the allegations were unsuccessful, as a text message sent to his WhatsApp number had not received a response as of the time of filing this report.
About the Author
