Alake Has Used Golf To Unify Egbaland - Adegbite

 

Bashorun Ladi Adegbite (Left) with Oba Gbadebo and Mr. Sunday Ajiboye

Anesi Oseni

ABEOKUTA - The Captain, Abeokuta Golf Club, Bashorun Ladi Adegbite has disclosed that, the Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo's contribution to the game of golf has brought uneven development to Egbaland.

 

Adegbite who spoke last week Saturday at the closing ceremony of the 17th Alake Annual Golf Tournament held at Conference Hotel, Abeokuta said the royal father has used the game to unify the people of Egba kingdom and raise money for the less privileged in the community.

He noted that the yearly Kings' Cup in conjunction with the Agura of Gbagura land, Oba Sabur Bakre was used to raise money towards the eye surgery for many Egba indigenes in his Alake's name whilst the motherless home was Agura's chosen charity.

"Alake aside from bringing us together year in year out to play a good game of golf, he has used golf as a to unify his kingdom and to raise money for the less privileged, one of such examples is in conjunction with Kabiyesi Agura through the Kings' Cup proceeds were donated towards the eye surgery for many Egba indigenes in his Alake's name whilst the motherless home was Agura's chosen charity.

"Alake has a sponsored hole at AGC, Hole 10 is easily the most difficult hole on our course. As a sponsor, he is responsible for the upkeep of the hole and he has generously sponsored the Hole in One there, everyone who plays hole in one off that hole gets N100,000.00.

"His commitment to the game of golf is unquestionable, Kabiyesi uses this tourney as one of the ways he expresses his love for the game and the Egba people. I can continue to count the various ways in which Kabiyesi supports us at Abeokuta Golf Club but it will take all day."

The Golf Club Captain, therefore, enjoined well-wishers and philanthropists to assist the club in the facelift of the age long golf course.

"We have numerous projects that require urgent attention. Playing the course this week you would have noticed that the fairways were parched making play more difficult than necessary. We need to embark on an irrigation process to make our course less dependent on nature, especially during the harsh dry season which affects the course very badly.

"Secondly the current club house, you may have noticed is undergoing construction, the extension of the external deck overlooking Hole 18 green and Hole 1 tee box has started. We are improving our IT platform to ease the communication between the club members and visitors.

"We have embarked on the improvement of our social media platforms, it is our intention to make our connect to the world via the world wide web easier and to improve our online payment channels. These three form the main issues at hand today for which we need urgent help.

"I am calling on all well wishers to share our vision of making AGC one of the best golfing destinations in western Africa, by making generous contributions. We have no objections to whatever contributions you choose to make be it cash or kind so long as it fits into our mission to raise the bar at this great club."

Commenting, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo commended the current golf club executive for organizing a colourful event this year.

Alake who said he regretted not playing golf early in his career as a soldier, urged the executive to create an enabling environment to accommodate golfers and visitors during the next edition of the competition.

"My only regret is that while I was playing squash I should be playing golf. While I started playing squash 16years ago, if I had join golf I would have become a professional."