THE National Council on Sports has approved dates in late 2022 for the 21st National Sports Festival billed for Asaba in Delta State.
After their meeting in Asaba on Monday, the council endorsed 2 November to 15 November as the dates for the multi-sport games.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, described host state Delta as the incubator of talents for Nigeria’s sports development.
Speaking on Monday in Asaba at the extra-ordinary National Council on Sports meeting, the minister thanked Delta State for hosting the sports meeting, stating that the state contributed a great deal to the successes of Nigeria in sports.
“This meeting today puts us at the cusp of another National Sports Festival (NSF) which we refer to as our own Olympics,” Dare said.
“The National Council on Sports meeting today has become necessary in order to update Council on developments, and deliberations on issues that concern the hosting of the 21st National Sports Festival which Delta State had earlier won the rights to host in November 2022.
“Interestingly, Delta State came first at the recently concluded Edo 2020. Now, we are happy that they have the opportunity not just to host, but to validate their first position. Arising from the award of the hosting rights to Delta State, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has continued to engage the host state on the need to fine-tune the road map in preparation for the festival.”
The minister commended the National Council on Sports for their commitment and steadfastness to sports development, and expressed gratitude to Delta’s Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for his immense contribution to sports development.
“He single-handedly adopted the largest number of athletes for the Tokyo Olympics (12) and we are glad that out of the two medals we won, one of them was won by one of the athletes adopted by the Governor. That is Ese Brume,” Dare noted.
The minister then announced that the ministry, in collaboration with the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, has established a department that is solely responsible for the National Sports Festival and para-sports.
“With this development, para-sports has equally been given the desired attention,” he added.
Governor Okowa thanked the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development for the opportunity to host the National Sports Festival, promising to not only surpass the standards of Edo 2020, but to make the 21st edition of the games the best ever.
The highlight of the event was the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the hosting of the NSF tagged “Asaba 2022” by Governor Okowa and Dare.
