• Organisers inaugurate liaison committees
Organisers of the second Niger Delta Games have announced the opening of the registration portal for athletes and coaches of the nine participating states. They also announced the constitution and inauguration of states’ liaison committees.
 
With the development, athletes from across the Niger Delta region can now register online to participate in the multi-sport festival, the organisers said, while pledging to provide technical support to each participating state to ensure a smooth and inclusive registration process.
 
At the inauguration of the liaison committees for Ondo, Edo and Delta States on Thursday and Friday at their respective state capitals, the lead consultant to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for the games, Itiako Ikpokpo, who was represented by the Project Director, Fred Edoreh, enjoined all members of the committees to work together in implementing their tasks on behalf of the organising committee.
 
“We expect work to begin and trial for athletes to go through the inner parts of all your state local government areas to give opportunities to all indigenes,” he charged the members.
 
Ikpokpo outlined the functions of the state liaison committees to include organising preliminary athletes’ trials from the local council level to the final selection at the state level, as well as ensuring the online registration of all participating athletes and the entry of the selected athletes in the games registration portal.
 
The committees are also to ensure that the trials and selection of athletes are in strict conformity with the general and technical rules and regulations of the games.
 
They are also saddled with the task of ensuring the successful camping and training of the contingent ahead of the games as well as arranging comfortable transportation of the state contingent to and from the Games, and carrying out all other directives of the Project Consultant, Dunamis Icon Limited.
 
Ondo State Commissioner for Sports, Segun Henry Omoyofunmi, is the chairman of the State Liaison Committee, which has four other members, namely, Dr Henry Babatunde, as Secretary, chairman of Ondo State chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Tunde Akinsemola, Segun Giwa, and the state’s Director of Sports, Mrs Evelyn Lebi.
 
In Benin, the State Liaison Committee was inaugurated on Friday with Amadin Enabulele as chairman and Bright Idahosa as secretary. The others are Sogbayi Opeoluwa – Joseph Aghahowa, the State Director of Sports and Kehinde Osagiede, the State SWAN chairman.