Joel Ajayi

Chairman of the Main Organising Committee of the Niger Delta Sports Festival, Alabo Boma Iyaye, has expressed satisfaction with the level of preparations ahead of the Niger Delta Sports Festival.

He disclosed this yesterday during an inspection tour of hostel facilities and competition venues around Uyo which are being prepared to host the event, the first ever sub-regional multi-sports competition in Nigeria, and an epoch making initiative   towards sustaining the supremacy of the region in sports and reviving the sporting fortunes of the nation.

Iyaye who is also the Executive Director, Administration and Finance of the Nigeria Delta Development Commission, sponsors of the event, could not hide his excitement when he was shown round the Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre pencilled for the accommodation of five of the nine states, as well as competitions in Basketball, Tennis and Volleyball.

Other facilities inspected include the West Itam Sports Centre, Ultra Fit Sports Centre, the Swimming Pool section of the Uyo Township Stadium, which is undergoing renovation, and the Cordelia Connely College. “I am really excited about the facilities and the level of preparations. From what I have seen, I can say that we are ready. What is left is just to dot some Is and cross some Ts. 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 Festivals, but looking at what Akwa Ibom has given to us, I am indeed proud”.

On the benefit of the festival, Iyaye said it is multi-pronged.

“We know that the Niger Delta Development Commission mandate states produce about 70 to 80 percent of Nigeria’s best athletes, but we have also observed the decline in our nation’s sporting fortunes, and as an interventionist 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”.

The Niger Delta Sports Festival, sponsored by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, holds in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, from April 1 to 8, 2025.

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