The Delta Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu, on Wednesday, assured Nigerians that the now ongoing 21st National Sports Festival (NSF) would be hitch-free and fun-filled.
Aniagwu gave the assurance at a press briefing held at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, the main venue of the sports fiesta.
The Commissioner said that in spite of wrong insinuations about the sincerity of the state to host the biggest sports event in Nigeria, the state was ready.
He said: “We are ready for this event. In fact, Team Delta has won the festival’s first gold medal in cycling and this has confirmed our readiness to host the tournament.
“Some few days ago, some people had flown the wrong kite that this event will not hold. But we have addressed the various grievances bringing up those issues.
“We have also advised that those who have grievances should not use the sports festival as a medium to settle their scores with the government as we have put serious efforts into the preparations.
“We want to ensure that the festival is top-notch and everything we need to put in place to make it eventful and fun-filled has been done.”
Aniagwu also said the state government appreciated all the stakeholders of the NSF for their support.
“We must appreciate all the participants from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for their support.
“We also thank the Federal Government, the Sports Ministry, and our state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, who made all the logistics available for us to have a fun-filled tournament.
“We are expecting over 13,000 athletes with most of them already on the ground and I can assure you that starting from the opening ceremony today (Wednesday), we will continue to witness good sports activities.
“We are ready to allow our brothers and sisters to excel in their God-given talents and have fun while the event lasts.
“We also want the appeal to the residents along the roads and near the stadium to bear with us on the partial closure of some roads leading to the stadium to allow for a free flow of traffic within the arena,” he said.