By JACOB AJOM
The planned nation-wide warning strike by labour has started taking its toll on the Nigerian sport scene even before the first day of the unrest as the Nigeria Olympic Committee yesterday announced that the 2011 Olympic Day Run originally planned for this weekend will now hold on August 6.

Speaking at the pre-Olympic Day Run briefing at the Nigeria Olympic Committee secretariat yesterday, Vice President of the NOC and chairman of Sports For All Nigeria, Dr Jonathan Nnaji said the event which was originally slated for this Saturday, July 23 had to be postponed due to the much anticipated nation-wide warning strike.

Said Nnaji, “although we are yet to get a clear picture of the situation, we want to give in to fears being expressed everywhere about the warning strike expected to begin tomorrow(today). If it happens, it will definitely affect our plans, hence the shift in date.”

He said “Olympic Day celebration is an idea platform to highlight the benefits of physical activity, particularly for young people which allows them to learn the values of the Olympic movement and practice them.”

He said that so far, only ten states, namely Edo, Ebonyi, Enugu, Niger, Bayelsa and Bayelsa had indicated interest in holding this year’s event. Others include Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Borno states.

The number is a sharp drop in the number of participating states. The NOC boss gave reasons why there were fewer states this year.

He said, “most of the state governments are yet to settle for business while in some states some directors of sports were changed so it became difficult for some states to meet up with planning for the event,” adding that with the shift in date, some more state like Lagos and the FCT(Abuja) could join. “Discussions are still on,” he assured.

On that day, participants are expected to walk, do some aerobics and dance. “It is fun,” Nnaji said.