NSC, Emefienim list expected gains of NDSF

The director general of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Bukola Olopade, and Managing Director/CEO of Premium Trust Bank, Mr. Emmanuel Efe Emefienim, have said that the Niger Delta Sports Festival, which begins tomorrow in Uyo, has the potential to contribute greatly to the country’s sports development efforts.

The games, which is the first regional sports festival in Nigeria, will run from tomorrow to April 8 with athletes from all states in the Niger Delta region vying for laurels.

Bukola Olopade, who told The Guardian at the weekend, in Lagos, that President Tinubu will be represented at the opening ceremony in Uyo by the chairman of the NSC, Mallam Shehu Dikko, said that the NSC has thrown its full support behind the Games as it is a significant platform for discovering and nurturing emerging sporting talent.

“The Chairman of the NSC, Shehu Dikko, will represent His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu at the opening ceremony on April 1 (today) in Uyo to officially declare the festival open,” Olopade said at the unveiling of PremiumTrust Bank as the official banker of the Games.”

“The Niger Delta Sports Festival underscores the Federal Government’s commitment to promoting grassroots sports development across every region in Nigeria. I am part and parcel of the Niger Delta because I grew up in Warri, Delta State where I had my secondary school education. I want to praise the NDDC for this initiative and I call on more states to adopt similar programmes to expand Nigeria’s talent pool because this Niger Delta Sports Festival represents a vital platform for discovering and nurturing raw talent,” Olopade stated.

Also speaking on the festival, Emefienim described it as a “great initiative,” saying: “At PremiumTrust Bank, we don’t joke with anything that will enhance the development of sports in Nigeria. Apart from being the official banker of the Niger Delta Sports Festival, we are the lead sponsors of the forthcoming Gateway Games holding in Abeokuta. Before now, we sponsored the National Sports Festival in 2022 in Asaba, and we also sponsored two Nigerian top athletes, Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume, for three years.

“We are the official sponsor of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and we also kitted Bayelsa Queens during their CAF Champions League. We also sponsored the Abuja marathon. We do all that because it is our hope that if we provide the platform for the youths to thrive, it will surely rob off on the entire nation.”