Monopoly Becomes Sport In Lagos State

Lagos government achieves another milestone in sports when it approved Monopoly as one of the sporting activities in the state. The birth of Monopoly in Lagos is a partnership between Lagos State Sports Commission and Bestman Games. According to the chairman of the Commission, Mr. Deji Tinubu, who is also the Special Adviser on Sports to the Governor of Lagos State, many people know about Monopoly but they have not really capture it the way Bestman Games is about to bring it to the limelight in Lagos.

He said that the philosophy behind Monopoly is in line with Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s vision on sports where he wants to create opportunity for every child to engage in sports, while the government will provide the enabling environment with active collaboration with the private sector.
He said: “I want to officially announce that Monopoly is now a recognized sport in Lagos State."

To the CEO of Bestman Games, Mrs Mini Akinkugbe, Monopoly began its in road into Lagos in December 2012, saying “we gathered at the imposing City Hall on Catholic Mission Street for the launch of the City of Lagos Edition of Monopoly by the former Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola. It was the first African city edition of Hasbro’s World Famous board game and we are deeply proud that the Mega City of Lagos was honoured with that special status. Our company, Bestman Games is the African distributor of customized edition of Monopoly.
She revealed that a tournament tagged City of LagosU-17 Monopoly Championship will hold on 17 September where no fewer than 2,000 students from 100 schools from both private and public will vie for the position of Lagos State champion. The overall winner is expected to win N1 million educational fund.

“A month ago, we had the pleasure of training 100 teachers from 100 Lagos schools for the championship. It is appropriate that this historic tournament in which we expect to beat a world record should take place on the grounds of Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere which is the landmark of Monopoly Board,” Akinkugbe said.