Hitches As Sports Festival Begins

With 48 hours to the official opening ceremony of the 17th National Sports Festival, there are complaints about some organisational lapses which may take the shine off the championship.

Though some events of the sports festival have begun since Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to declare the festival open on Sunday. Reports from Port Harcourt, River State, say the Local Organising Committee, LOC, of the festival is faced with initial hiccups, which have made some states to complain about the poor organisation of the competition.

States like Lagos, Edo and Kwara found it difficult to settle down at the games village because of the shoddy accommodation arrangement put in place by the organisers. The situation degenerated into a crisis that led to the beating up of some officials and athletes of Team Lagos by the men of the Rivers State Joint Task Force.

Director of Sports in the Lagos State Sports Council, Adewunmi Ogunsanya, told P.M.Sports early today that though the Chairman of the LOC, Deputy Governor Teneh Ikuru, promised to provide an alternative hostel for Team Lagos, as at this morning, the team are still staying at the premises of Rivers State University of Technology.

Team Edo complained that they were given accommodation which is not fit for human habitation. Their grudge was that the Aminu Kano Hostel in Choba Park allocated to the team is not good for them.

The traffic situation in the Port Harcourt metropolis is another source of concern to the participants at the festival. The ongoing construction of new roads in the city has worsened the vehicular movement, with some states missing some of their scheduled events.

There are also complaints of some venues being too far from the hostels assigned to the states. Officials, athletes and Sports journalists covering the fiesta have been finding it difficult to connect from one venue to another due to long distances. Mostly affected are visitors who do not know the locations of most of the centres.

Meanwhile, Team Lagos have won a gold medal in karate. The winner, Davies Olushina John, attributed the feat to God and the Chairman of Lagos State Karate Association, Alfred Ohieme, for his assistance to the state’s karate players.