Chijioke Gabriel
It was a spectacle as the 22nd edition of the National Sports Festival got underway on Sunday with a colourful opening ceremony at the MKO Abiola Sports Complex, Abeokuta, amid fanfare in front of an estimated 10,000 spectators, showcasing the very best of Ogun State and Nigeria as a whole.
The opening ceremony, which lasted more than four hours, began with a soulful rendition of the national anthem and Ogun State anthem by popular singer and songwriter, Bukola Elemide, also known as Asa.
Asa’s rendition was followed by other performances which lit up the arena as well as the colourful march past of the 36 states, the FCT and the Invited Junior Athletes, who are dubbed as the 38th state at the National Sports Festival.
The evening was capped by Afrobeats star, Davido, who thrilled the spectators by dropping energetic hits off his newly-released 5ive album, among other old hit songs from his discography.
Over 15,000 athletes are competing in both individual and team sports, which will offer a total of 2,150 medals in 549 events.
The multi-sport event, regarded as Nigeria’s version of the Olympics, is set to be one of the most expansive in the festival’s history, with 626 gold, 626 silver, and 898 bronze medals up for grabs.
The events will be held across different venues, including the state capital, Abeokuta, Ikenne, Sagamu and Ijebu-Ode.
Meanwhile, two members of the Invited Junior Athletes (IJA) for the 22nd National Sports Festival in Ogun State, Amarachi Chijioke and Scholastical Tekumbur, outshone elite athletes in the 45kg women’s weightlifting event, winning two gold, one silver and one bronze on Sunday.
The weightlifting event began on the opening competitive day at the NYSC Orientation camp, Sagamu, just as other events like kung fu, deaf badminton and badminton also got underway in Ikenne and Abeokuta, respectively.
Chijioke claimed two gold medals in clean and jerk with the best lift of 82kg while she totalled 146kg for the total haul. Her IJA counterpart, Tekumbur, also claimed the bronze in clean and jerk with the best lift of 78kg after Rivers State’s Christina Allorima, who took silver with 81kg.
Dubbed the 38th state, the IJA team at the National Sports Festival comprises over 100 teenage athletes selected from across Nigeria to compete against more established counterparts in nine sports.
It was created by the National Sports Commission to provide the young athletes a rare platform to test their skills on a grand stage while accelerating their development in a highly competitive environment.
