The President Muhammadu Buhari has been scheduled to declare the 2020 National Sports Festival in Benin City, Edo State open on March 22.
Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, announced this in Benin City on Tuesday after leading sportswriters to inspect facilities at venues for the national sporting fiesta.
“We have put everything in place for an unprecedented National Sports Festival. I’m happy to inform you that President Muhammadu Buhari will declare the Games open on March 22, while Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will draw the curtain on the events,” Shaibu announced.
The deputy governor revealed that the state was working hard towards ensuring that Edo 2020 was the best Games ever in the history of the NSF, which was first held at the National Stadium, Lagos in 1973.
“We are going to have about 17 centres that the events will take place in because like we’ve always said, we want to redefine how the Games are being hosted, so that at the end of the day, Edo will be a reference point. For us, Edo is the home of sports,” Shaibu recalled.
The deputy governor, an acclaimed footballer on the domestic scene, who featured for Insurance FC in the Nigerian top flight League, hinted that Edo was hosting to win the competition.
He stressed that the state’s athletes have been given the necessary exposure and training to bring glory to the state.
“We are hosting to win and win clean,” Shaibu stated with optimism.
