The duo told News Channel at the MKO Abiola Sport Arena in Abeokuta on Sunday that the state should ensure it imbibed the spirit of maintenance culture in order to protect all the facilities.
Odegbami explained that the sports festival was good for the development of sporting facilities and also to discover young talents.
He noted that the state hosted the event 19 years ago, saying that if the facilities were well maintained, there would not be need to spend much on construction and renovation.
He commended Gov. Dapo Abiodun for his braveness, courage to take the cross again to explore the usage of sports for infrastructural development , social economic and cultural development of the state .
" The festival is a good thing, it's not every state that has the capacity to host the festival .
" Ogun hosted in 2006, we put in place fantastic facilities and when you look back now, 19 years after and you see what is on ground.
“Why do you need to spend this amount of money doing this renovations to effect changes if we had maintained what we had in 2006. We have challenges with our maintenance culture ," he said.
Odegbami, recently appointed by Gov. Dapo Abiodun as Ogun state sports ambassador , explained that the festival would lift up to expectations.
" See them young, take them young and start developing them for the future, that's what the festival is about.
" When the festival was created, it was to discover young athletes and take them to the elite level , the young athletes we are talking about are those that are in school.
“When I was picked in 1973, I was a student at the Polytechnic , I was even old at that time, I was 20 , the junior athletes now are going to be the biggest beneficiary of this festival," he said.
Onakoya , known for his charitable efforts and record-breaking chess marathons, noted that he looked forward to a great sports festival.
He urged the state government to ensure proper maintenance of the facilities.
" I look forward to the games , particularly the underdogs upsetting the already made athletes, the festival is an opportunity to discover true champions .
" I am particular about Chess game, am here to support Ogun state, I hope Ogun state wins , that's my own personal bias . I have no doubt, there are lots of beautiful Chess players in the country.
" I will be watching as an observer but what I really want to see is that such players are really well rewarded as well as other athletes .
" Chess is a competitive sport and mentally demanded like any other sports, infact . I hope the medalists are rewarded excellently. Some will say bye playing Chess, you burn more calories than playing football.
