National Sports Festival
Edo State Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, (LOC) for the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival, Rt. Hon. Philip Shaibu has assured stakeholders that all the venues and facilities earmarked for the festival scheduled for March 22 to April 1, 2020 will be ready for use by December 31, 2019.
The Deputy Governor stated that unlike other sporting tournaments where venues and facilities were always a major challenge, the problem has been solved with the new look international standard Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium and other complementary venues already nearing 85-95% completion.
Shaibu noted that apart from the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, Edo State was the first state to have a double game event for squash while the Ogbemudia Stadium itself now has an Assisted Video Recorder (AVR) facility ready for use.
Towards ensuring the overall success of the Games, he said the 12 inaugurated sub-committees were working round the clock, adding that a formal fundraising has been scheduled for Lagos being headquarters and home to most corporate organizations.
He said the Main Organising Committee (MOC) will commence a training programme for desk officers who are expected to handle the accreditation of athletes and officials for the competition.from October 30 to 31, 2019.
The services of between 2,000 to 3,000 volunteers would be needed to aid the smooth management of the Games and they would be sourced through a placed advertisement on the Games’ portal to make for the smooth running of the Games tagged, “Return of the native.”
He said, “Edo was on recess for 11-12 years which made Nigeria to lose its potentials. We are ready to host other 35 states and Abuja in the return of the native. Edo State is ready to take its pride of place concerning sports.”
Shaibu stated that apart from hosting to win straight at the sports fiesta, there was a conscious attempt at merging sports with academic activities with the building of 20 mini stadia in the 18 local governments of Edo State to harness young talents from secondary schools.
He also took time out with the Marketing and Communication sub-committees members to inspect the sports commission building and its workstations which doubles as the office of the Local Organising Committee (LOC).
