Akwa Ibom inaugurates Olympic-standard swimming pool ahead tomorrow’s opening ceremony

Host, Akwa Ibom State, has intensified preparations for the 13th Biennial Nigeria Police Games, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow.

The Games will feature more than 35,000 officers of the Nigeria Police Force and its allied service providers.

Speaking while addressing worshippers during the November monthly Government House Prayer Meeting at the Latter House Chapel, Government House, Uyo, Akwa State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, described the Police Games as one of the biggest sporting events in the state, affirming that it would engineer an upsurge in the state’s socio-economic activities.

“Within the week, we will have many visitors coming into the state. We are hosting the Police Games in Akwa Ibom State and over 6,000 athletes will be here and it will commence on November 23, 2022.

It will be a season of big economic activities. By the time you have 35,000 people come into your state, no matter what, they will buy pure water, eat roasted plantain and stimulate the economy of the state,” he stated.

Emmanuel, who assured that the 2022 Akwa Ibom State Carol Festival, will be the best of its kind, also disclosed that two new A320 aircraft acquired to increase the Ibom Air fleet were already in the country.

The acquisition of the aircraft at this time, he explained, was to meet up with the envisaged heightened demand that will be occasioned by the state’s signature Christmas event, in addition to the usual Yuletide rush.

To ascertain the state of facilities for the week long sporting event, Emmanuel later moved to inspect ongoing work at the Uyo Sports Stadium, where an Olympic size swimming pool and other indoor games facilities are being constructed.

At the stadium, the governor expressed satisfaction with the pace of work on the facilities and thanked the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Usman Baba and the police hierarchy for the choice of Akwa Ibom State as host of the Games, which, according to him, gave the state inspiration to expand and improve upon existing facilities as well as push to put new ones in place.

He also commended the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Sir. Monday Ebong Uko and his team of indigenous engineers, for proving their mettle in the quality of work, timeliness and level of completion of the project and justifying their expertise on the inspiration from the Dakkada philosophy of his administration.

Sir Uko explained that the swimming pool was built to Olympic standard with dimensions of 25 metres by 50 metres in area, two metres in depth, with a 1,500-spectator capacity in a well-covered sitting area.

Earlier, the state’s Police Commissioner, Mr. Olatoye Durosinmi, described Akwa Ibom as a safe haven for the event and expressed satisfaction at the preparedness of the state to host the Games, while assuring of safety and security of visitors and citizens.