EDO 2020 NATIONAL SPORT FESTIVAL: DELTA 2022 IN VIEW
(A DOCUMENTARY)
The 20th National Sport Festival, Edo 2020 has come and gone. The festival was nothing short of expectation. Thrills and tears. Victories and defeats. Men and women becoming sporting giants while already existing giants, slain. It was nothing but raw action. The National sport festival in Edo state was set to commence in March 2020 but the covid-19 pandemic had several postponements until it finally held in April 2021. Truth be told, the postponement caused alot of troubles especially for the host state, Edo, which had to bear extra financial burden as well as a long list of issues associated with welfare, logistics and accommodation.
There were two organizing committees in charge of the event, the Main Organising Committee (MOC) which comprised the Federal Government officials in charge of the results and managing the events schedules while the other committee was called the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) which was chaired by Philip Shaibu, (the most vibrant deputy governor in the world). I am not from Edo but his energy towards the success of this sport festival from the inception was exceptional. His efforts were visible to the blind and at the end of the day; everybody could spot an excellent synergy between him and Godwin Obaseki, the Governor of the state. Together they make a great team especially in the area of youth support and empowerment.
Though there were complains about some major areas which the government would have focused more on for the convenient of the athletes like the issue of bad roads which most of the athletes had to contend with, to and fro the stadium. The traffic occasioned by the bad roads made them spend more time on the road, they lamented that they had very little time to rest in preparation for the next sporting day.
Usman Ali, a sport correspondent with the News Agency of Nigeria, who witnessed the event from beginning till the end, had this to say...
‘though i am not eligible for their food as an observer but I think they are trying in that area of giving athletes and officials food, they gave them ticket and centralised their feeding but the area that needs improvement is the area of their engagement with the media and some defect in the area of organisation, for instance you have to look everywhere as a journalist to know the time, yes venue are stated, but you might just be looking what time will they play this match, so if you don’t do that be rest assured that you will not get anything, that I think they need to improve on in the next sport festival we are going to be having. There should be a place for journalist and anybody to go and access information, maybe a notice board, it may not be centralised, it might be at the venue of each event, so they will know the time slated for each match. Also, there is need for central observer to connect all’.
Mr.Seigha E.N. Porbeniwho, who served as Delta State team overall coach attributed the success of Team Delta at the event to early and structured planning, stating that most of the athletes that represented the team were recruited when they were young and groomed over the years using renowned coaches. At the state level, the Government were able to identify the best through competitions organised for that sole purpose. You would recall that Team Delta clinched the highest number of medals at the main event. Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, the delta State Governor had earlier pledged to give a sum of one million naira for every gold medal. That promise in addition to trainings were evidently enough to bring out the best in them.
Professor Osaretin Aigbovo, one time Dean of students, UNIBEN who served as project Manager for the games village situated within both campuses of the University and which housed the athletes from various states, commended the Government of Edo State for rising up to the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and recording a successful event. Speaking further, the professor of Law, thanked the Governor of Edo State for situating the games village within the University of Benin as the University had benefitted both economically and in the area of infrastructure from the State Government.
The next edition of the National Sports festival which is slated for 2022 will be hosted by Delta state, the home of the defending Champions. After the just concluded games, there are lots of lessons for the host of next years’ festival. To avoid the challenges encountered during the Edo 2020 edition, Prof Aigbovo advised the state government to allow the project manager have access to the number of the contingents they are expecting on time so they can provide everything needed. He also said that everybody should be carried along by the state government through active media and information platforms. The federal government officials in charge should give information to the state government on time, in the case of Edo 2020; they just picked the date without informing the host state. The federal government should carry the host state along in every stage of the planning. Delta State should start preparing and carry the necessary people along, the athletes as well as the media.
Governor Obaseki in his vote of thanks at the closing ceremony gave kudos to the officials including Professor Aigbovo for his wonderful engagement during the National Sport Festival as the Project Manager.
