With barely 13 days to the kick-off of the 20th National Sports Festival – Edo 2020, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, and Main Organising Committee (MOC) members of the multi sports fiesta are expected to storm Benin City on Tuesday, March 10 for the final Inspection of facilities earmarked by the Edo State Government to host the Games.
Musa Ebhamiana, Chief Press Secretary to the Edo State Deputy Governor confirmed the visit of the Minister and the Edo 2020 MOC members at the weekend, stressing that almost all the facilities were ready to host the Nigerian version of the Olympics.
“The Honorable Minister of Youth and Sports Mr. Sunday Dare is expected in Benin City on Tuesday for the final inspection of the facilities provided by our State government to host the 20th National Sports Festival. This is the last inspection before the Games will kickoff on March 22, 2020,” observed the CPS at the weekend.
With almost all the facilities installed at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Edo is set to host the festival that will be the reference point in a long while.
A visit to the Ogbemudia Stadium recently showed a total transformation of the edifice to a world-class Stadium with the most modern technologies in place.
From the lush green natural grass turf in the main-bowl to four changing rooms for players, Edo State government has gone the extra mile to reconstruct the former Ogbe Stadium to perhaps, the best sporting edifice in the country today.
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It also has in place a CCTV that has the capacity to keep watch five kilometers radium of the Stadium. 8n addition to that is the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology to be used for the football events of the Edo 2020 sports festival. It is the first of its kind in the country.
Apart from three tennis courts and a fourth centre court that can seat over 2,000 fans, two world-class swimming pools are also in place. A hanging Gymnastics gym, the third of such in Africa has also been completed while there are also two squash courts good enough to host any continental championship.
Also in Etete is an ultramodern Indoor sports hall. It was formerly owned by Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports (FMYS) but was taken over and renovated by Governor Godwin Obaseki ahead of the Edo 2020 sports festival. It is scheduled to host badminton, table tennis and power table tennis.
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My question is: what are the plans in place to ensure that the legacy of this tournament endures for the next 10 years and beyond?
– How will the stadium facilities be maintained to ensure that it will continue to host sporting events to world class standards in years to come?
– How will Edo State government ensure that the welfare of its citizens will improve in the way of job creations as a result of hosting this tournament?
– How can any improvements in the welfare of the citizens of the state be maintained into the future?
– How will lessons learnt from hosting this tournament be collated?
I hope the tournament goes ahead without a hitch. This sort of games should be used to improve sports development in Nigeria.
First i must commend the state government for giving us a third presentable stadium in Nigeria. After abuja uyo here is edo and the delta new stadium. The rest stadiums are not making sence. Any stadium wish doesnt have a roof over its spectators in this modern age is a shit hole stadium no matter its location. @deo in terms of keeping the consistency or maintener of the stadium and field the government have to privitise the stadium to private football clubs and other sportclubs that are in the nigeria leagues and mainteners will be part of obligations to the respective clubs. No nigeria institution or company can function in the name of government becos of the popular say government na for everybody or them nor they put government work for head. It simply means anybody can do wat they like with it, so the solution is privitising them to serious stake holders that have personal interest that is how the western countries are developing consistently. It also work for univercities as well as hospitals the only thing government do is to keep eyes on them and obligates them to mainten high standerd
Very constructive contribution. Thanks bro.