‘No rancour in Edo 2020 Sports Festival LOC’

A member of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of Edo 2020 National Sports Festival has said that the task of organizing a befitting sporting fiesta this year is not the responsibility of one person.

There were insinuations yesterday that one of the key members of the LOC had resigned over allegation that the committee was being operated by one man alone.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, the Secretary of Communication and Publicity sub-committee of Edo 2020 National Sports Festival, Ebomhina Musa described those spreading rumour of one-man show as ‘enemies’ of the state.

Musa, who is also the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, who doubles as the Chairman, LOC, Edo 2020, said that everything was being done to use the competition to show to the entire world how a national sports festival should be organised.

“We operate like members of one big family in the LOC, and anybody spreading a rumour that someone has resigned is an enemy of progress. As we speak, nobody has resigned and the LOC chairman (Philip Shaibu) is working round the clock to see that Edo 2020 turns out to be the best organised sports festival in Nigeria,” Musa stated.

Edo was handed the hosting rights of the 20th NSF by the Ministry of Youth and Sports during the tenure of Solomon Dalung at the grand finale of the 19th edition held in Abuja in 2018.

Edo 2020 Sports fiesta is expected to hold between March 20 and April 3. Some states had already concluded their zonal elimination for team sports ahead of the festival.

While inaugurating the LOC headed by Philip Shaibu, the state governor Godwin Obaseki charged them to do everything possible to stage a festival that will redefine national competitive sports in Nigeria.

“We are not just hosting,” Obaseki said. “But to show the world what national sports festivals should be. The LOC must live up to its expectations.”

The NSF is a biennial multi-sports event, which was originally conceived as a ‘unifying tool’ with the main purpose of promoting peace and cross-cultural affiliation in Nigeria after the Nigerian Civil War in 1970.

Edo 2020 National Sports Festival will be the third time the Games are taking place in Benin City after it played host to Bendel ’81 and Edo 2002.