The Federal Government has fixed the National Sports Festival for November 2 to 15, 2022 in Delta State following the resolution of the Technical Committee of the National Council on Sports.
Sunday Dare, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, disclosed this on Monday in Asaba, the Delta State Capital during the extra-ordinary National Council on Sports Meeting and Inauguration of LOC for the hosting of the National Sports Festival.
He described Delta State as the incubator of talents for the nation’s sports development, noting that the successes of Nigeria in sports won’t be complete without the contribution of the oil-rich state and the giant strides of her athletes.
“Therefore, this meeting today puts us at the cusp of another National Sports Festival (NSF) which we refer to as our own Olympics,” he said.
“The National Council on Sports meeting today has become necessary in order to update Council on developments, and deliberations on issues that concern the hosting of the 21st National Sports Festival which Delta State had earlier won the rights to host in November 2022″.
“Interestingly, Delta State came first at the recently concluded Edo 2020. Now, we are happy that they have the opportunity not just to host, but to validate their first position.
“Arising from the award of the hosting rights to Delta State, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has continued to engage the Host State on the need to fine-tune the road map in preparation for the NSF.”
According to Dare, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development will continue to collaborate with the Delta State Government with the view to ensuring the successful hosting of the games.
He commended President Muhammadu Buhari administration for the progressive and giant stride ideas put in place to drive sports development and the entire ecosystem in the country.
This is even as the Minister noted that sports development under the current government has attained a new and impressive height which has invariably secured a seat at the table when it comes to allocation of resources as an area of business.
He stated further that his ministry in collaboration with the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), have established a Department in the Ministry that is solely responsible for National Sports Festival and Para-Sports.
