• Uses sports to unite oil-rich Niger Delta
From Emma Jemegah
Established by an act of Parliament in 2000, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has been known more, for interventions in infrastructure development in the areas of roads, electricity, schools, health care and skills acquisition.
NDDC’s mandate to facilitate the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region includes using a variety of initiatives, including sports, to promote unity and peace. Observers can easily attest that its intervention projects have focused exclusively on road, electricity, education and health care infrastructure.
This time, the commission is for the first time, delving into sports through the sports festival, an initiative of Dunamis Icon, the project consultants led by Itiako Ikpokpo KSM.
The event is designed to bring together athletes from across the region, encouraging healthy competition and creating opportunities for local talents to be discovered by scouts from national and international sporting organisations.
From April 1-8, 2025, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the first ever regional sports festival will take place, bringing together athletes, coaches and technical officials from the nine mandate states that make up the NDDC.
Ahead the games, the NDDC has renovated the Olympics-sized swimming pool, Uyo Township Stadium, the tartan tracks at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, basketball and volleyball courts as well as hostels at the Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre, Itam West Secondary school and Cornelia Colly Girls school. This will ensure that the state is bequeathed sports facilities. Hotels are also enjoying patronage
The event aims to discover and nurture talents from the region to global stardom. A collateral benefit of the festival is the upgrading of facilities in Uyo, the host city.
Some have referred to the region as “the land flowing with milk and honey.” Others say it’s the economic livewire of the nation.
Truly, the oil-rich Niger Delta, home to a significant portion of Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves, contributes significantly to the country’s economy and foreign exchange earnings. Known as the heart of Nigeria’s oil industry, the Niger Delta contributes over 90 per cent of the country’s oil revenues.
Sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean, the Niger Delta is located within nine coastal southern states, which include six states; Edo, Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom, from the South South geopolitical zone; one state (Ondo) from the South West and two states (Abia and Imo) from the South East.
Historically, the densely populated Niger Delta has been a region of rich cultural diversity, with many ethnic groups, including the Edo, Ijaw, Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ibibio and Efik.
These groups have often had distinct traditions, languages and ways of life, but the shared challenges stemming from the oil industry created a unifying force in their quest for better living conditions and social justice.
And while it continues to produce millions of barrels of oil on a daily basis, accounting for a large percentage of the country’s export earnings and significantly contributing to the country’s gross domestic product and government revenue, it also used to, in time past, churn out some of the world’s most accomplished sportsmen and women.
Some of them include former boxing world champions Dick Tiger, Hogan Bassey and Samuel Peter, Olympic gold medallists Chioma Ajunwa, Enefiok Udo-Obong, Austin Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Victor Ikpeba, Taribo West, as well as Blessing Okagbare, Ese Brume, Endurance Ojokolo and Deji Aliu.
The region ruled the domestic sports scene, with its states, particularly Delta, dominating the biennial National Sports Festival, while also exporting top-class talents to the world.
However, its sporting fortunes took a nosedive in recent years, prompting the NDDC, which expressed concern over the sports dwindling fortunes, to wade in and try to restore its glory days.
The commission was established 25 years ago by former President Olusegun Obasanjo with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich region, which had suffered environmental challenges and social conflicts due to oil exploration and extraction.
Ironically, oil extraction in the area has had a double-edged impact: while it has generated immense wealth, it has also led to environmental degradation, conflict, and socio-economic disparities among the local population.
The competition venues are the Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre earmarked for the accommodation of five of the nine states, as well as competitions in basketball, tennis and volleyball; the West Itam Sports Centre, Ultra Fit Sports Centre, the swimming pool section of the Uyo Township Stadium and the Cordelia Connely College.
During an inspection tour of hostel facilities and competition venues, Chairman, Main Organising Committee, Alabo Boma Iyaye, expressed satisfaction with the level of preparations ahead of the Niger Delta Sports Festival:
“We know that the NDDC mandate states produce about 70 to 80 per cent of Nigeria’s best athletes. But we have also observed the decline in our nation’s sporting fortunes. As an intervention agency which has been delivering on various infrastructural needs across the region, we find it necessary to intervene in sports, to provide opportunities for our youths to excel and to show the world that the Niger Delta is not only about oil.
“This is why the theme of the festival is ‘Beyond Oil: Harnessing Talents.’ But the festival is not only about talent discovery. It also leads us into intervention in sporting facilities, like we are doing now in Akwa Ibom.
“I am really excited about the facilities and the level of preparations. From what I have seen, I can say that we are ready. The consultants have done a great job, and it gives me joy.
“I used to think that Edo or Delta would be best qualified to host these games in terms of facilities, because they have recently hosted the National Sports Festival, but looking at what Akwa Ibom has given to us, I am indeed proud.”
Last month at the unveiling of the event, the games consultant, Ikpokpo, said: “Niger Delta used to produce most of Nigeria’s top athletes but today there’s a dearth of talents. The NDDC, after their huge strides in infrastructural development, agreed that it was time to give sports the focus it desired in the region to produce the desired talents in that area of our national life.
“Just like the NDDC is famed for their development of infrastructure in the region, we also want the world to know that the NDDC is ready to produce sports talents for the country.
“We want to achieve the purpose of starting the games, that is why we have fixed the athletes ages from 16 to 25. There are modalities to check age cheats and those caught will be disqualified and their states fined. Those who do well at the event should be able to attend competitions in Nigeria, Africa and globally.”
Chairman, Scouting and Mentorship Sub-Committee, Godwin Enakhena, vowed: “We won’t compromise standards in getting the next generation of athletes during the NDSF. It’s not all about football, but all sports with the potential to put Nigeria at the top by winning medals.
“We’re committed to regaining our pride of place in sports, and we’re confident that the Niger Delta Sports Festival will provide the perfect platform for us to achieve this goal. And of course, Nigeria will be the greatest beneficiary.”
The festival organisers have assembled a team of renowned coaches and scouts to oversee the scouting and mentorship process during the event.
Olympian Gabriel Okon, an athletics coach, will be in charge of the athletics team. He has coached the national team to several international competitions. Joining him is Anthony Konyegwachie, another Olympian and national team coach who will lead the boxing team.
Rakiya Mohammed, a national women’s volleyball coach, alongside Anthony Oghuma and Imoudu Francis, will spot talents in the volleyball event. Owhe John leads the scouting team for basketball, while Emmanuel Emefuna, the national team coach, will oversee the swimming events. Odey Anthony will be in charge of tennis, and Paul Omonoma, an international football scout, leads the football team.
Qualifiers emerged after Local Government and state trials in the nine states ahead of the trip to Uyo. The festival is also primed to be a celebration of the region’s talent and cultural diversity.
Nigeria Football Federation executive board member, Aisha Falode, media consultant for the Nigeria Delta Sports Festival, said: “The majority of Nigeria’s top athletes come from the Niger Delta. Perhaps, in the past, we didn’t fully acknowledge sports as a tool for integration and unity.
“For the Niger Delta, this festival represents more than just winning medals—it serves as a platform for unity, dialogue, and progress. The Niger Delta is one, and this is the perfect time for this competition.”