Team Delta won its 5th National Sports Festival (NSF) in a row at the just concluded 22nd NSF with 323 medals to cement its dominance in the sports fiesta in recent years. The festival was held at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Delta State won 122 gold, 96 silver and 105 bronze. Bayelsa State came 2nd with 92 gold, 62 silver and 70 bronze medals. Ogun State was 3rd with 90 gold, 64 silver and 78 bronze medals. Rivers State came 4th with 74 gold, 56 silver and 63 bronze medals while Edo State was 5th with 63 gold, 95 silver and 113 bronze medals.
The 22nd NSF was officially declared open in Abeokuta on May 16 by the Vice President, Kashim Shetima, representing President Bola Tinubu, and was concluded on May 30. The Gateway Games attracted over 10,000 athletes in Abeokuta. Participants took part in 30 sports. One of the standout performances was the 100 metres race won by the 18 year old, Chidera Ezeakor, representing Team Edo.
He defeated the 2021 Olympic 100 metres finalist, Enoch Adegoke and Taiwo James Emmanuel. Patience George won the female 400 metres in a convincing style while Cynthia won the 200 metres ahead of Sophia Efetobode of Team Bayelsa. The male 200 gold medal was clinched by Lucky Oritsheweyinmi of Bayelsa. The festival was tainted a bit by the disqualification of some athletes due to doping issues, while the explosion of a tanker at the games venue raised eyebrows.
The tragic death of 22 Kano athletes returning from the festival is regrettable. One of the survivors, Dorothy Okwuzuluike, said the vehicle broke down several times from Abeokuta before it eventually had an accident at Chirowama. We commiserate with the families of the dead athletes, who paid the ultimate price for serving the state. At the same time, we pray for quick recovery of the wounded. Let there be insurance cover for all the athletes. Kano State government should compensate the families of the dead athletes and take adequate care of the wounded.
Nevertheless, we commend the National Sports Commission and Ogun State government for the successful hosting of the sports fiesta. We also laud the athletes for their sportsmanship and call on states, which had not been doing well in the sports festivals, to buckle up. Sports development and talent discovery should be taken seriously by all the 36 states. The federal government should encourage all the exceptional athletes that emerged from the festival and expose them to foreign training.
Some of Nigeria’s greatest sprinters, like Olapade Adeniken, Davidson, and Mary Onyali, excelled at the sports featival and went on to represent Nigeria at international sports championships. The trio all won medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The sprint sensation, Deji Aliu, also made a mark at the festival. He won the 100 meters event at the 2003 All-African Games following his discovery at the National Sports Festival.
He was part of the Nigerian relay team which won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics together with Innocent Asonze, Francis Obikwelu, and Daniel Effiong. Chika Chukwumerije is another revelation from the National Sports Festival, who went on to win medals at the 2003 All-African Games and at the 2008 Olympic Games.
The National Sports Commission should harness the abundant talents discovered at the 22nd National Sports Festival and prepare for future sporting events like the All Africa Games, Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, and World Championships. It should organize a talent hunt games for secondary schools. Sending exceptional talents on sports scholarship abroad is good, but we should also have good training facilities at home. South Africa and Botswana have demonstrated that star athletes can be produced and retained in Africa and still be among the best in the world.
Our dismal performance at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics was due to inadequate preparation. There is need for adequate preparation before any sporting event. Great sporting nations such as the United States (US), China, Russia, the United Kingdom (UK) and France invest heavily in sports and prepare well before any global sporting event. Let Nigeria invest so much in sports. There are many Ofilis and Amusans in the country waiting to be discovered. They need all the support to become world beaters. We cannot afford to be losing our potential star athletes to other nations.