Sports
Solving The 19th National Sports Festival Impasse
Athletes in Nigeria always look forward to the country’s own version of the Olympic Games (National Sports Festival) but that dream seem defeated following the continuous postponement of the games by hosts, Cross River State and apparent inability to host the games.
The Sports Festival was last held in Lagos state in 2012 and five years after, nothing has been heard about the 19th edition of the games tagged Centenary Games, which ordinarily ought to have taken place before the birth of the present administration in Cross River State.
Like the saying goes, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, in sports it is training without competition that makes a potential champion a novice, so one can now understand why Nigeria’s score card on the continent has taken a nosedive in recent times.
The facilities on ground show that Cross River State government’s support and enthusiasm to the games have petered out and rather than subject the athletes to unecessary wear and tear, some sports journalists say the ideal thing for the National Sports Commission to do, is to take the games to Abuja or appeal to states that can bail Cross River State out.
A Rivers State based sports journalist, Benson Clement, even narrowed the likely states that can host the games to the last two hosts of the national sports festival apart from the federal capital territory.
“Now that it is obvious Cross River State Government is not ready for the games, the National Sports Commission/Sports Ministry should take it up or make it open for states that have the potential to host ’’.Clement said.
“The commencement of the 19th edition of the National Sports Festival has lingered for long, nothing has happened, I think the National Sports Commission,NSC should just seek audience with Lagos and Rivers States, the hosts of the 17th and 18th edition of the games”.
“Even though the pitch at the main bowl of the national stadium may not be in good shape for the opening and closing ceremony for now”, said a former secretary of the Rivers State Chapter of Sports Writer Association of Nigeria, Olalekan Ige, “Abuja should host because it is the most neutral of all the potential hosts in the country.
”They should take the games to Abuja which is a neutral ground ,though the main bowl is not in good shape for the opening and closing ceremony, I think with the other facilities on ground, Abuja will be a great host”, Ige said.
According to another Port Harcourt Sports journalist, Sarah David, athletes are at the receiving end of the several postponements the games have suffered which has in turn affected the quality of athletes invited to camp for international engagements.
And to ensure that the National Sports Festival holds in no distant time, David is also calling on the National Sports Commission to do whatever that it needs to do so as to get the games back on track.
“You know most sports select or use the national sports festival as the platform to invite athletes to national camp but that has not
happened in five years that is why our performance in international meet took a nosedive “. Sarah added Meanwhile, former Rivers State Sports Commissioner, ,Boma Iyaye has not, “it is sad that five years after the last festival was held in Lagos, the chances of the 19th edition taking place soon is still very slim”.
He wondered why the National Sports Commission has not called on states with the ability to host to bail out Cross River State.
“It’s sad that five years down the line nothing has happened, I actually do not know what their(Cross River State) constrain is”.
“By now the NSC should have called on states with the wherewithal to help host the games, instead of denying the athletes the right to
competition,” Iyaye said
Iyaye however stressed that if the Main Organising Committee of the games approaches the Rivers State Government, to lend a helping hand, the 19th National Sports Festival might come to town after the necessary documentation must have been sorted out.
Abaje is a Port Harcourt-based sports journalist.
Peter Abaje
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.