Chicago 2016 bid team in Nigeria to lobby for summer games

A delegation from the Chicago 2016 bid team is in Nigeria as part of an ongoing lobbying effort over the next few months to bring the summer Olympics here.

Chicago 2016 Chairman and CEO Patrick G. Ryan will be among those making a presentation before the National Olympic Committees of Africa General Assembly, which meets Monday and Tuesday. More than a dozen members of the International Olympic Committee — the official body that selects a host city — will be on hand at the event.

The 100-plus member IOC will travel to Copenhagen in October to pick a city for the 2016 Olympics. Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo are also finalists.

Officials say they’ll hammer home Chicago’s $4.8 billion Games plan: a compact venue whose backdrop includes Lake Michigan, a dozen museums, public transit and a bustling downtown.

And they’ll tout the proposed Olympic Village, which would be built on the site of Michael Reese Hospital. Olympic boosters have repeatedly said the village’s location would put 90 percent of athletes within 15 minutes or less of their competition venues.