The president of Nigeria Armwrestling Federation, Engineer Samuel Olatunji Jackson has revealed the vibrant background in sports that he received as a student of CMS Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos, which he still finds useful nowadays.
Engineer Jackson recounted how competing in various sporting activities and being given leadership roles while in school prepared him for his current status as an administrator, Sports247 reports.
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He further disclosed that, apart from participating actively in various sports activities as a student, he was even the captain of Lagos State academicals for several years, which gave him broad ideas about leadership duties.
Jackson revealed these details while speaking on ‘Hot Seat’ segment of Inside Naija Sports, a live streaming programme on YouTube, which runs from 11am every Friday in the studio of Sports247 Naija TV.
He added that the sports policy at CMS Grammar School helped him a lot, as he engaged not only in football but also in hockey, with which he became a long serving captain of Lagos State’s teams.
He reminisced, “I attended CMS Grammar School and, during my days there, we had the opportunity of engaging in different kinds of sports.
“I played football and hockey, for which I was captain of Lagos State for over eight years. I was also the overall team captain for Lagos State athletes.”
He then recounted the factors that signalled his advent into armwrestling, as he kept his passion for sports alive when he travelled to the United Kingdom and studied as a civil engineer.
“Later on in life, I moved into armwrestling mostly because I want to put back into sports the same kind of ideas that built people like us to where we are today.
“I also want to let the up and coming ones know that they can combine academics together with sports effectively, just as I did.
“While growing up, I later lived in the UK and trained as a building civil engineer,” the amiable armwrestling top shot stated.
He went on to reveal that, after combining academics with sports in his early life, he is now playing a similar double role of running his private business with that of being an active administrator in the sporting sector.
Jackson disclosed, “I worked as a building expert with a company in Nigeria before I set up my own, with which I am involved in construction and manufacture of materials – something that is rare in this country.
“I am a consultant as well, and we deal with a lot of constructions, including facilities. We build sports facilities, we maintain them and we can manage structures anywhere in Nigeria.
“We deal in various types of sports facilities – from astro-turf, indoor sports courts, built-in facilities and more. We are also into all forms of sports infrastructure.
“That’s why we refer to ourselves as administrators on and off the field. I am happy that I’ve been able to continue running private business alongside my role as a sports administrator.”
He concluded by revealing the extent to which he has been able to make an impact as a high-ranking official at home and abroad in armwrestling, which he referred to as an ‘alternate sport.’
“We are not a lesser sport because we know where we are coming from and the impact we have already achieved. Armwrestling began as an official sport more than 13 years ago.
“I was fortunate to represent Nigeria in the masters’ category at the Armwrestling World Championship. I later moved from being a competitor into administration.
“Later on, I was fortunate to become the world vice-president and recently Africa president,” the highly jocular Jackson recalled.
