National Sports Festival: Dare Salutes Delta Govt, LOC

The Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, has heaped praises on the Delta State Government and the Local Organising Committee for the ongoing 21st National Sports Festival for staging an amazing opening ceremony for the event.

Dare told newsmen on Friday that he was elated with the commitment and professionalism exhibited by the officials of the LOC and the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa administration.

The Minister said: “I was in constant touch with the entire LOC but my surprise is the commitment demonstrated by the government to ensure the games take off as planned.

“The LOC had the full support of Governor Okowa and it made the operational preparations very smooth. We all knew any further shift could mean that the competition will not take place till say April next year but we all saw what Delta has presented to us here in Asaba.

“As Nigerians, we should all be proud of the facilities of the Delta 2022 Sports Festival. We expect fresh talents to emerge from there and we are also going to take all the events seriously with a view to identify future champions in the country.”

Dare also expressed delight over the activities of the opening ceremony of the games.

“The entire process was good. This is our own Olympic Games and I am impressed that the LOC gave us a good show on Wednesday. It was really colourful and exciting. This is a huge standard for the next host to chase and we expect the events to also go on smoothly till the final day on December 10 in Asaba,” the minister noted.

Incidentally, Delta State is hosting the competition as defending champions, having emerged winners at the Edo 2020 event staged last year in Benin.