…emulate USA, Jamaica, others

By Jacob Ajom

The National Sports Festival was initiated by the General Yakubu Gowon military regime in 1973. It was a platform that furthered the cause for genuine reconciliation and a validation of the regime’s three Rs of national Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Reconciliation.

The NSF was an eloquent justification of the power of sport used by the regime to bring together youths from all parts of a country that was near disintegration after the 30-m0nth bloody civil war. That is why the National Sports Festival was originally called Unity Games..

The first edition held in 1973 in Lagos, then Nigeria’s political capital/  With time and experience, the games attained a more productive status as a breeding ground for discovering new talents and the country’s sporting profile grew to no bounds. It became a hunting ground for young talents that later grew to represent the country in various international sporting events.

The National Sports Festival features athletes representing the different states of the federation and the state with the best result emerges champion. This set the tone for the heightened competition among states. 

Unfortunately, the NSF has metamorphosed into a battle ground for supremacy among states. Some of the states have  abandoned the very essence of the biennial competition and encouraged the poaching of athletes from other states to represent them at the festival. Real sports development has been neglected by successive governments while the urge to win the festival has become uppermost on the minds of sports officials.  

The 22nd edition is around the corner and Sports Vanguard sought the views of former Chairman of the defunct Nigeria Football Association, Kojo Williams on the impact of the NSF on Nigeria’s quest to attain sporting excellence among the comity of sporting nations.

What do you think of the National Sports Festival?

Having seen much of the outcomes from the National Sports Festivals that have been taking place in recent years, the concept itself of how it started, we have to look at things objectively. We should look at the foundation. I don’t have anything against the festival but we need to go back to the feeding structure – what leads to the National Sports Festival—  which is inter-secondary schools or inter-collegiate sports competitions. Unfortunately, that is non-existent today, so how can you have an effective Sports Festival?”

He argued that a well- articulated culture of inter-collegiate competitions featuring secondary school students combined with first and second year student athletes from tertiary institutions would  form the bedrock of sports development in the country. 

“How can you have an effective sports festival?”, he asked “When inter-secondary schools competition was in existence you would easily know who had the potential to represent Nigeria in the near future, or even going further to represent the country at the Olympics. They all started from schools. Now they just pick them randomly from states; no records, no data base whatsoever.. If you don’t have those things in place, why do you have the national sports Festival.

“My question is, if you don’t have those things in place, why do we have a national sports festival? Is it just for fanfare. There should be a structure in place that will feed the sports festival, something that will give it a solid ground to authenticate the festival itself; except they want to make it a fanfare there is no problem. It should relate to inter-collegiate system.

“If you look at all the great athletics countries like Australia, the United States or Jamaica, the most catching aspect of their sports development plan is going back to the colleges and secondary schools; that is where you get the best athletes. It is at that level that you can get athletes that will later represent their states and the country at a later stage.

We interjected. But we still have a National Secondary Schools Sports Festival?

“But it is not what it used to be; that is not an argument. The National Secondary Schools Festival

is not well funded. It has not got the attention it deserves. I cannot cal that National Schools  Festival. It doesn’t have the funding, it doesn’t have the credence and without a foundation, so I cannot call that National Schools Sports Festival. You need proper sponsorship, it needs more funding and more invest more than the National Sports Festival.

With the National Sports Commission in place, do you think we are going to see some of these lapses rectified?

I hope so. I am not saying they can’t do it. What I am trying to say is they should look back, revisit and look at things objectively and see how you can put things right. Then study what other successful nations are doing so that you can make it work in your own country. That is how to become world beaters.

I am not criticizing anybody. I am only trying to put things objectively. That Secondary schools sports festival can combined with first and second year students in the universities and Polytechnics.. When you look at the Under 16s and U17s, that is where you pick the best athletes and then develop them. The money you use to organise the sports festival, use it to develop these guys and take them to another level. It’s not just about having sports festivals. There must be a structure in place within the National Sports Commission that can oversee these things and make sure they work.

There should also be a centre of excellence for training of athletes where they can be prepared for competitions, instead of  using all the resources on the National Sports Festival.

Objectives of the National Sports Festival

Started and staged in 1973 at the National Stadium, Surulere in Lagos, the game 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.[3] The game also serves as a development and training event to aid athletes prepare for continental and international meets.[4] The objectives of the National Sports Festival are:

To build a robust talent pool of athletes

To enhance and elevate sports at grassroots level

To establish a standard programme for athletes’ succession

To enhance and elevate sports at grassroots level

To curb age cheating in Sports

To encourage early participation in Sports

To engage young athletes in the Olympic Movement, skill development and social responsibility

To enhance cultural and educational development

To promote National unity.