After six days of sporting contests, the curtain was drawn on the Niger Delta Sports Festival (NDSF) with finals in football, athletics and wrestling.
For the close to 3000 athletes, who made it to Uyo with their respective states, it’s possibly an experience they will live with even if they drop out of sports as a career in the future.
This was succinctly captured by the Chairman of the NDSF Main Organising Committee (MOC), Alabo Boma Iyaye, when he addressed the media shortly after the rounding-up meeting of the organising body.
“This festival has provided an opportunity for bonding among youths of our region, memories that they will carry all their lives. We are happy at NDDC to have made this platform available,” Iyaye remarked.
As is won’t to be on the eve of big events, all categories of participants are heard in clusters sharing experiences, laughing and backslapping.
For a festival that took off with all the trappings of a carnival on the opening night, the closing is not expected to be less of a spectacle.
Dunamis Icon Limited, the festival project managers, expectedly retain the services of Smile Global Entertainment, producers of the opening ceremony for an encore
Abia State born all-white dresser Brown Chinedu Wilfred, was all over the Uyo Township Stadium venue of the event, coordinating his team as they mounted exotic lights and high quality speakers.
“We are setting up differently from what we did on opening day but this time, it’s going to blow minds,” Wilfred boasted.
The Lead Consultant, Itiako Ikpokpo, told journalists that the festival’s objectives have been met, adding, however, “We will surely put up a good show befitting all that was accomplished in attention to details we brought to organise this event. However, the real accomplishment will be achieved when we can groom discovered athletes to be on the podium in years ahead.”
Earlier, Iyaye had announced the decision of the MOC to recommend that the festival be a biennial event.
“We have received commendations from all over the country and the MOC reached a decision today to recommend to the NDDC board that this festival should be held every two years,” said Iyaye, who also is the Executive Director Finance and Administration at the NDDC.
Present at the briefing and on hand to watch the final races was the chairman of the NDDC Board, Chinedu Ebie.
David Akahalu anchored the Edo State 4×400 metres quartet to clinch the gold medal in the very last event that drew the curtains on the festival. That win, coming after Delta State girls took the gold in the 4×400 relay, seem to have pushed Bayelsa State off the pinnacle of the medals table.
