The opening ceremony of the 18th
National Sports Festival tagged Eko 2012 will take place today Tuesday 27th November 2012 at
the Teslim Balogun Stadium as the Main Organising Committee expresses worry
over the problems militating against the games objectives.
President Goodluck Jonathan is
expected to declare the competition open as he did in the 2011 edition in Port
Harcourt, while state governors and National Sports Commission officials are
expected to play different roles.
More than 8000 athletes from all over
Nigeria will fight for medals at the Eko 2012 and Secretary General of the Main
Organising Committee for the games, Abba Yola, said on Monday that 11,549
persons made up of athletes, officials and state delegates would be involved in
the staging of the festival, where athletes that will represent Nigeria at the next
Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will be selected.
The 18th edition is returning to
Lagos after Nigeria disgracefully came back from the London 2012 Olympic Games
without a medal.
The major problem militating against
the festival since inception in 1973 is poaching, where athletes switch
allegiance from one state to the other for financial gains. Elite athletes who
have done well in past editions are known to have dumped the states they
represented in order to compete for other states who promise huge financial
package.
The problem has defeated the essence
of the initiative which is to give opportunity to younger talents to develop in
a competitive atmosphere. Instead of developing in a professional way, athletes
have become mercenaries as Nigeria’s status in global sporting events
nose-dives.
Yola acknowledges the negative effect
of the antics employed by states to win medals by all means, urging them to
protect the objectives of the competition.
“We know that poaching exist but we
are also ready to ensure that states desist from doing this as we have realised
that it is only the lazy states that poach athletes from other states,” he
says.
“For any athlete to represent any
state at the festival, such athlete must have resided in that state for one year.
While athletes that are fond of representing different states will also be
penalised if found guilty. We believe that any athlete that has competed in
three Olympics, Commonwealth and All Africa Games is not expected to take part
in the festival because it is meant for amateur athletes,” he states.