The 20th National Sports Festival tagged Edo 2022, which ended April 14 in Benin City, was as usual, a convergence of the country’s brightest sporting talents.
The sports fiesta was replete with some of the best facilities on display, amazing performances by the athletes, poor officiating and fans’ unruliness at venues, as Team Delta retained their title.
Nationnewslead takes a look at the major events that highlighted the event popularly known as the ‘Nigerian Olympics’:
THE GOOD
Colourful opening/closing ceremonies
The festival began and ended with colourful ceremonies that had live musical performances, which displayed the rich cultural heritage of the Edo people, at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.
The opening ceremony had Timi Dakolo thrilling the crowd, while Joeboy, Nastee and Teni stole the show at the closing ceremony, with fans staying late into the night to watch their scintillating performances.
World-class facilities
The sports festival was a display of some of the best standard sporting facilities by the host state. From the renovated Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, which had the main bowl, tennis courts, swimming pool and the indoor sports hall in top shape, to the facilities in the University of Benin, Western Boys High School, Etete Gymnasium, Benin Cultural Centre, Imaguero College and others, the Edo State Government truly showed its readiness to host a befitting and memorable sporting showpiece.
Nwokocha: New tracks queen
Grace Nwokocha was the supremo in the sprints events at the festival, coasting home to the 100m and 200m women’s titles in style at the sparkling tracks of the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.
Nwokocha, who represented Team Delta at the event, won the 100m title in 11.42secs, beating
Team Lagos’ Udo-Gabriel, who was second in 11.44secs. Bayelsa’s Tima Godbless was third in 11.61secs.
She also put in a dominant display in the 200m, winning in 22.79secs to claim a spot at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
COVID-19: No spike recorded
Another highlight of the festival was the strict COVID-19 protocols put in place by the Main Organising Committee of the festival, in conjunction with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, which ensured that there was no spike in the spread of the dreaded virus during the festival.
There were initial fears at the beginning of the festival, after some athletes tested positive for the virus, but after the conclusion of the event, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Nebeolisa Anako, disclosed that there was no spike recorded at the event.
Broken records
Several records were broken at the festival, especially in the swimming events.
Bayelsa swimmer Ifiaezibe Gagbe stole the show in Edo after breaking series of longstanding records at the competition.
She broke six records and emerged the most outstanding athlete at the festival.
Ifiaezibe returned a time of 1:01:54 in the 100m freestyle for women, against the previous record of 1:02:66 in 2012. She also erased the 5:47:95 record in the 400m individual medley set in 2006, in a time of 5:46:95.
Similarly, Gagbe beat the record of 21:05:10 set in 2018 by finishing the 1500m freestyle women in 21:04:92. She also set a new record of 21:17:05, erasing the 2018 record of 2:20.28 in the 200m freestyle.
Her 5:04.30 in the 400m freestyle also bettered the previous record of 5:09.71.
Collins Obi, a Team Kano swimmer, also set a new NSF record of 53.92s in the 100m freestyle, eclipsing the former record of 54.33s set by Ifeakachukwu Nmor of Team Delta at the 2018 edition in Abuja.
A new record of 31.73s was also set in the 50m backstroke women by Delta’s Timipamere Akiayefa, which erased the previous 32.10s feat by Rivers’ Obia Inyengiyikabo in 2006.
THE BAD
Poor officiating
One of the low points of the Edo festival was the poor officiating by referees and judges in several events, which led to violent reactions by fans at some venues.
Aggrieved fans pelted the fourth official with water containers, plastics and sticks immediately after Team Edo women’s football side defeated their counterparts from Lagos 1-0 in the final of the women’s football event at the University of Benin Sports Complex, to claim gold.
A fight broke out after the official displayed an additional one minute after full time, but angry Lagos officials and fans said more minutes should have been awarded after medical personnel of Team Edo had spent about 10 minutes attending to their injured goalkeeper on the pitch.
Edo, FG battle over funds
Just six days into the sports festival, the Local Organising Committee threatened to shut down the event following the failure of the Federal Government to release funds to the Edo State Government, as promised.
Athletes were left at the crossroads as uncertainty beclouded the festival. But 12 hours later, the Games Village came alive again after the LOC announced that the festival would continue as planned, after a meeting with Presidency and sports ministry officials.
Boxing fans go gaga
Some fans at the Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre disrupted the boxing event and caused pandemonium, as people inside the venue ran helter-skelter.
The fans, who were reportedly apprehensive the judges might decide against Team Edo’s Lydia Uhumwangho after her fight with Bayelsa’s Jacinta Umunnekwe, invaded the floor, chanting war songs to intimidate the referees from announcing the result.
There were gunshots at the venue, as police tried to bring sanity back to the centre with the bout suspended for hours after a brawl among the fans.
Water scarcity
Five days into the Games, athletes endured water scarcity at the Games Village and had to queue for water following power outage in the city.
For a festival that showcased Edo’s world-class sporting facilities, this was a major setback at the Games.
Osinbajo absent
The absence of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the opening and closing ceremonies of the festival raised several eyebrows, with athletes, officials and fans left disappointed. A lot of fans had stormed the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, hoping to catch a glimpse of the country’s number two citizen, but went home with their shoulders down after it was announced that Osinbajo was unavoidably absent due to bad weather on both occasions.
Medals table
The most obvious downside to the exciting sports festival was the late update of the medals table, which oftentimes didn’t get updated until late into the night, leaving stakeholders in apprehensive state.
THE AMAZING
15-medal hero Gagbe
The star of the Edo 2020 was undoubtedly Team Bayelsa’s Ifiaezibe Gagbe, who won 15 medals in swimming: eight gold, two silver and five bronze, to emerge as the most decorated athlete of the 20th edition of the sports festival.
Pregnant Idrees shines
Aminat Idrees did the unthinkable in Benin City, winning gold, silver and bronze medals in the Taekwondo Poomsae event, with an eight-month pregnancy.
The 26-year-old, who represented Lagos, won gold in the Mixed Poomsae category, silver in the Team Poomsae and bronze in the Individual Poomsae to become the poster girl of the event.
Shaibu wins gold
Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, entered into the record books as the country’s first major political office holder to win a gold medal at the festival.
Shaibu, who was also Chairman, Local Organising Committee, captained Team Edo to a 3-2 victory over Team Lagos in the final of the men’s football event.
He played a total of 20 minutes across the competition, but made a huge impact on the two occasions he was brought on. During his short stint on the pitch, he had four successful dribbles, three key passes and was fouled on two occasions.
Many will remember him for his defensive doggedness in the final against Lagos, following a late onslaught by their opponents.
Stephanie Onusiruka
Ten-year-old gymnast Onusiruka, who featured for Team Anambra, stole the show as the youngest star of the festival.
She won gold, two silver and one bronze in gymnastics and was one of the amazing talents to grace the sports fiesta.
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