On December 10, Delta State hosted and emphatically won the 21st edition of the National Sports Festival (NSF), with a whopping 648 medals comprising of 320 gold, 200 silver and 128 bronze. The victory was Delta State’s 7th triumph in a row.
The sports festival which lasted for 12 days saw over 11,000 Nigerian sports men and women from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) vying for laurels in 38 sporting events.
Despite initial challenges, the 2022 NSF lived up to expectations in terms of performances by the athletes as some existing records were broken and new ones set after outstanding displays. Most importantly, national unity which the country needs desperately was given a big boost as there were no serious threats to peace and unity throughout the duration of the games.
No wonder, at the closing ceremony, President Muhammadu Buhari who was represented by the Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Akin Dare, said the sports festival was a huge success. He, therefore, congratulated the participants on the outstanding performances as he maintained that everyone was a winner.
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Without doubt, the NSF which debuted in 1973 for the main purpose of promoting peace and cross-cultural affiliation in the country after the Nigerian civil war in 1970 has not failed to deliver on its noble objectives. In view of its enormous contributions to national cohesion as well as discovery and development of talented athletes, the importance of the sports festival can never be over-emphasised.
However, it is also necessary to draw attention to the fact that in recent years, Nigerian sports administrators have intentionally derailed from some of the objectives of the sports festival which is to build a robust pool of athletes and to enhance and elevate sports at the grassroots level. In a nutshell, one of the cardinal objectives of the sports festival was to give the opportunity for talented athletes at the grassroots to be discovered and nurtured to represent the country in international championships.
Unfortunately, at the opening ceremony of the 17th edition of the NSF which was held in Lagos in 2012, the then Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Bolaji Abdullahi, announced that subsequent editions would be open to all Nigerian athletes. He said the decision was taken to encourage the best athletes from the country to compete in Nigeria’s own version of the Olympic Games.
Abdullahi’s controversial decision was met with protests by sports stakeholders who felt strongly that throwing the games open would negate the main objectives of establishing the NSF. However, such pleas and protests fell on deaf ears as subsequent editions of the festival beginning from Abuja 2014 have been all-comers affair. As it is, the sports festival title has become a commodity to be purchased by the highest bidder.
It will be recalled that at its inception, participants in the NSF were mainly local athletes who were yet to attain national or international recognition. But stepping on the platform provided by the sports festival, the hitherto unknown athletes came to prominence with most of them going on to represent Nigeria in international competitions.
Unfortunately, the story has changed drastically as grassroots athletes have come under the threat of internationally exposed competitors who come in from foreign countries to dominate them at ease. Apart from economic loss, defeats in the hands of the foreign based athletes leave the local ones with psychological injuries.
I feel strongly that the NSF should be exclusively for upcoming athletes. It should be an avenue for them to shine and be identified by sports administrators. And when the time comes for them to be tested against their foreign based compatriots, the national trials should be used. It is, therefore, wrong to subject upcoming athletes to ridicule by asking them to compete against some of their more illustrious compatriots who are based abroad. At the moment, it will take a special miracle for a local athlete to beat World and Commonwealth champion, Tobi Amusan, in 100m hurdles.
Therefore, if the NSF is to continue to serve the purpose for which it was established, the sports ministry must quickly revisit the decision on eligibility to compete in the NSF. The festival shouldn’t be taken away from local athletes who are the future of sports in the country.
For those who may feel that the recently introduced National Youth Games is for upcoming athletes, I say that shouldn’t be the case because the NYG is supposed be for athletes who are still in primary or secondary schools. NSF should be for secondary school graduates and budding talents in tertiary institutions.
It is, therefore, imperative to review the decision to throw the NSF open. If it remains an all-comers affair, money bags like Delta, Bayelsa, Edo, and Rivers State will remain indomitable. This is because some of these states fly in athletes from abroad to come and compete for them. The worst of it is that these mercenaries don’t even represent their states of origin. They are there for the highest bidder.
Without undermining Delta’s huge investment in sports facilities and athletes training, the state will continue to dominate the NSF, if it remains wide open and athletes are allowed to represent the state that offers them the highest amount of money.
Poor states that compete against the more endowed ones are grumbling and it is time to look into their grievances. Victory is sweeter when a level playing field is provided for everyone. There is indeed no FairPlay in an open National Sports Festival.
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