STATE E-SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP: OLAMIDE CROWNED OSHODI CHAMPION.

E-Sports, or electronic sports, a form of competition using video games, often taking the form of organized, Multiplayer Video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams is gradually making its way to the teaming youths in Nigeria.

Although not a new concept amongst young competitors across the country, followership is still yet to reach peak levels. But with the Lagos State Sports Commission creating an association to cater to E-sports in Lagos, it is believed there would be growth amongst lovers of the game and non-lovers alike, with a rapid acceptance amongst all.

In a bid to further grow the games in Lagos, eGamesNg, a domestic eSport Organisation, organized a State Championship preliminaries for the e-sport community in Lagos with the theme “Oshodi Qualifiers”. For game lovers in the Oshodi area of Lagos.

Several videogame players living around Oshodi entertained viewers in the arena as well as those who streamed the event live online.

The qualifiers which started at exactly 8:30 am Saw Olamide Akinloye knock out 19 participants and was crowned Champion of Oshodi in an event that lasted 4hrs.

Olamide told reporters;

I noticed a few players that were better than me but my confidence and self-belief helped me.

Olamide won a cash prize of N50, 000 for coming out tops out of 200 eSport players that competed in the games.

He also got an automatic ticket into the State E-sport Championship Finals scheduled for December 2022.

Of the 675 persons that registered online, only 200 e-sport players turned up for the Oshodi Qualifiers. When asked about the turnout of the players; the founder of eGamesNg, Tobi Adesina said:

The distance to the venue ‘Óshodi’ must have played a huge role, knowing the traffic situation in Lagos, connecting Oshodi from most parts of Lagos must really be a huge ask for anyone, especially our youths.

While speaking further, he said;

Many people who live outside of the city registered for the event but only those who reside within Oshodi and its environs participated, some others anticipated that the event may not have been free.

With fans in and around the city of Lagos already looking ahead to the next round of qualifiers, excitingly organizers of the Oshodi event had already dropped a hint that the Agege Qualifiers is up next, tentatively October 14th.

The Organizers of the games in the state and the State E-sport championship are hopeful that as young minds continue to key into the sports across the state, it will further reduce their tendencies to engage in most social vices, and reduce youth’s involvement in crimes as it has proven successful in other climes like Europe and Asia A cross section of competitors at the Oshodi qualifiers.