A National Sports Festival, A National Mourning

The 22nd National Sports Festival (NSF) dubbed the “Gateway Games 2024,” has ended with a bittersweet legacy that encapsulates both the promise and perils of Nigeria’s sporting ambitions.

While over 10,000 athletes from across the federation gathered in Ogun State to celebrate unity, talent, and national cohesion, the tragic loss of 22 members of the Kano State contingent in a fatal road accident has cast a dark shadow over what should have been an unqualified celebration of Nigerian sporting excellence.

The irony is stark and painful. As former President Olusegun Obasanjo rightly observed in his virtual address at the closing ceremony, the Gateway Games proved to be “more than just a sports festival; they are a triumph of unity, a showcase of talent, and an embodiment of national cohesion.”

Yet this triumph has been forever tainted by a preventable tragedy that claimed the lives of young athletes who had travelled hundreds of kilometres to represent their state with pride and dedication.

The accident, which occurred at approximately 12:30 p.m. last Saturday near Gadar Yankifi along the Kaduna-Kano Expressway, involving a Kano State Government Coaster Bus, serves as a damning indictment of Nigeria’s approach to athlete welfare and transportation safety.

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The sporting achievements of the festival were indeed remarkable. Team Delta’s fifth consecutive victory, amassing 337 medals comprising 126 gold, 100 silver and 111 bronze, demonstrated the state’s continued investment in sports development.

Ogun State’s creditable second-place finish with 93 gold medals, followed by Bayelsa’s third-place showing, illustrated the healthy competition that the festival is designed to foster.

These successes reflect years of preparation, training, and commitment by athletes, coaches, and administrators across the participating states.

However, sporting excellence cannot be divorced from athlete welfare and safety. The National Sports Festival has evolved over the years from a mere competition into what organisers rightly describe as “a grand celebration of talent, resilience, and unity.”

But for this celebration to have meaning, it must prioritise the safety and well-being of the young people whose talents it seeks to showcase and develop.

State governments that send contingents to national competitions must be held to account for the roadworthiness of their vehicles, the qualifications of their drivers, and the adequacy of their safety protocols.

The tragedy also highlights broader infrastructure deficits that continue to plague Nigeria’s transportation network. The Kaduna-Kano Expressway, like many federal roads across the country, has become synonymous with accidents, kidnapping, and general insecurity.

While the festival celebrates unity and national cohesion, the unsafe roads that connect our states serve as barriers to the very integration that sports are meant to promote.

The National Sports Festival’s role as a “unifying tool” and platform for youth development cannot be overstated. In a country often divided along ethnic, religious, and regional lines, sports provide one of the few arenas where Nigerians can come together in celebration of shared excellence.

The festival serves as a crucial talent discovery and development platform, offering young athletes pathways to professional careers and international recognition.

But this noble mission is undermined when basic safety standards are ignored. How can we speak of character building, teamwork, and resilience when we fail to protect the very athletes whose characters we seek to build? How can we celebrate unity when preventable accidents tear families and communities apart?

In the considered opinion of this newspaper, the lessons from this tragedy must be absorbed and acted upon immediately.

Pointedly, the success of future National Sports Festivals should not be measured solely by medal tallies or the quality of competition, important as these are. Success must also be measured by the safety and welfare of participants. A festival that produces champions but loses lives is not a success; it is a failure of duty and care.

As we reflect on the Gateway Games 2024, we must hold two truths simultaneously: celebration of sporting achievement and mourning for preventable loss.

Delta State’s remarkable fifth consecutive victory deserves recognition and praise. The talent displayed across all participating states should inspire continued investment in sports development.

The unity and camaraderie fostered during the competition should serve as a model for broader national integration.

But we must also acknowledge that 22 young Nigerians who travelled to Ogun State with dreams and ambitions will never return home. Their families will forever associate the National Sports Festival not with triumph and unity, but with grief and loss. This is unacceptable and must never happen again.

Nigeria’s sporting potential is undeniable, as evidenced by the quality of competition and talent displayed at the Gateway Games. Our young athletes deserve platforms to showcase their abilities and pursue their dreams. But they also deserve to return home safely to their families and communities.

Until we can guarantee both sporting excellence and athlete safety, the National Sports Festival will remain an incomplete success story — a celebration marred by tragedy that could and should have been prevented.