A new chapter has begun for the Nigeria Triathlon Union following the election of Ize Matebese as president at the union’s elective congress held at the Nigeria Olympic Committee Secretariat inside the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
Matebese, a prominent legal practitioner and one of the founding members of the union, emerged after polling 16 votes to become the first woman to lead the union in 20 years.
The congress, which also served as the union’s general assembly, was held on Wednesday, September 30. Matebese succeeds Prince Wale Oladunjoye, who led the organisation since 2018, and follows founding president Dr Lanre Glover.
Matebese was the union’s first vice-president and has also served as treasurer-general and legal adviser. She also served two terms on the Legal Committee of World Triathlon.
In her acceptance speech, she praised the electoral committee led by former president of the Aquatics Federation of Nigeria, Babatunde Fatayi-Williams, for the transparent conduct of the election.
“I hope to be able to birth a new beginning. Triathlon has been going on, but we need to make it more high-profile so that it is in the public eye. We haven’t had tournaments for a while, so we will have them so that people can see.
“We have had athletes going for international tournaments, but not at the Olympics. We will be looking out for our youths and push as many of them as we can, ” Matebese said.
She outlined plans to revive the sport’s profile through a national championship, grassroots development and school participation.
Other members of the new executive are Abiona Babarinde as first vice president, Olukayode Oguntayo as second vice president, Priscilla Iroaganachi as secretary-general, Raliat Abdulsalam as deputy secretary-general and Modupeola Ofonedu as treasurer.
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