News
FG suspends Nat’l Sports Festival until further notice
The Federal Government of Nigeria has postponed the 20th edition of the biennial National Sports Festival billed to hold in Edo state.
The Games were scheduled to kick off on Sunday, March 22 at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin, to end on Wednesday, April 1.
The dress rehearsal for the athletics event of the Festival tagged ‘Test The Track Competition’ had already held as the countdown to the main event stands at six days.
But following a meeting of the Minister of Youth and Sports and President Muhammadu Buhari, the fiesta will no longer hold as scheduled.
Read Also: Nat’l Sports Festival: 9,221 athletes to compete, as Edo shuts down schools
In a tweet on Tuesday, Sports Minster, Sunday Dare made the announcement, citing the novel coronavirus as reason for the postponement.
“Following the briefing of Mr. President from myself and the Minister of State for Health on COVID 19, Mr. President approved the immediate postponement of Edo Sports festival to a future date,” he wrote.
The Minister had before now assured that everything is already in place for the success of the Games, including facilities for the containment of the spread of the virus.
Apparently, the President and the Minister of State for Health were not convinced, as a new date will be given for the festival.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...