I cant wait to see it finish let me go back school, for a month and some weeks now we have been in house all in the name of athelete using our hostel for camp in the ongoing sports festival.

Best coverage on Daily Times. Delta in the lead.

Medals table please . . . .Heard the host are leading with a wide margin,

Baro:
Medals table please . . . .Heard the host are leading with a wide margin,

National Sports Festival: Rivers, Delta lead medals table
The National Sports Festival, which kicked off 4 days ago in Rivers State, shows the host and Delta state as joint leaders with 20 medals a piece

Host of the 17th edition of the National Sports Festival, Rivers state, are joint leaders with the defending champions, Delta state, at the on-going competition.

The competition which started 4 days ago, showed Rivers and Delta both having 20 medals, according to the medals table released by the games services committee and signed by its chairman, retired Brig-Gen Emmanuel Okaro.

Earlier, chairman of Team Rivers, Boma Iyaye, had said he was happy with his team’s performance so far in the competition and that they would improve on its previous record by winning more medals.

“We know, definitely that the big states, Edo, Ogun and Delta and Lagos, are breathing down our neck and we hope we will be able to beat them.”

“And one thing you have to understand, I am sure , all our gold medals, there is no protest.”

“That will tell you that we have been doing it and winning them and competitively not because we are hosts, but because our athletes are good,” Iyaye said.

“We are not expecting anything less than the best. We expect our athletes to do very well because we have invested so much in them,” Iyaye added.

His words however seem to be on track, as the medals table shows Rivers having 11 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze medals but are joint leaders with Delta (both having 20 medals) on the medals table, who have 6 gold, 6 silver and 8 bronze medals.

Akwa Ibom and Ogun states followed with a total of 11 medals. Akwa Ibom has 5 gold, 6 silver and no bronze medals while Ogun has a gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze medals.

Edo and FCT have a total of six medals, Imo five medals and Cross River four medals.

The committee said it would continue to update the medals table as the games continued.

In the last edition of the games held at Kaduna in 2009, Team Rivers finished eight on the medals table.

semid4lyfe:

The opening ceremony is been shown LIVE on NTA now.

Duncan Mighty performed earlier. The ''kokomaster'' Dbanj is performing his hit track scapegoat now . . . .

. . . Watching dbanj nw. . . .why everybody(especially those clowns ) just dey dance na? Dem don turn am 2 a musical concert?.
.lol

semid4lyfe:

The Festival torch has arrived the stadium now. Abeg who be all those peeps wey dey carry the torch?

. . . .even commentator doesnt knw them.

http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/national-sports-festival-heats

Round up of the events at the National Sports Festival and current medals table.

THEY COULD NOT EVEN LIGHT THE STADIUM TORCH, THE CRANE THAT WAS TO LIFT THE CHIC DID NOT WORK.

NAIJA I HAIL THEE

This eastern states sef none of dem is performing, anyway why will they perform when we cant boost of a single stadium in anambra,

Let us continue deceiving ourselves

Female boxer protests defeat, refuses to leave ring
By Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji
July 7, 2011 10:25AM
http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Sport/5727954-147/female_boxer_protests_defeat_refuses_to.csp

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Mild drama was recorded during the quarters-finals of the female boxing in the ongoing 17th National Sports Festival in Port Harcourt as Kemi Aliu representing Ondo State insisted on remaining in the ring after her defeat by her Lagos State opponent, Yetunde Alimi.

The four-round fight was full of tension as the two boxers engaged themselves in what could be described as fight to finish to secure a berth in the semi-final. The fight drew ovation from spectators as the boxers battled each other.

However, at the end of the fight, Alimi was declared winner by the referee, a development that drew the ire of Aliu who felt she had been robbed of victory. She decided to remain in the ring in protest and in the process delaying the commencement of the next bout.

Aliu maintained her stance of not leaving the ring, shouting on top of her voice and rolling on ground. She turned deaf ears to all pleas by the authorities to leave.

The protesting boxer did this for over twenty minutes but following persistent appeals, she later walked out from the ring maintaining she had been cheated:

"The referees robbed me of victory. I will not agree; I won the fight and am only been cheated, it is clear that I defeated my opponent" the crying boxer said as she was led out from the ring.

Ogun volleyball team disqualified for fielding foreigners
By Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji
July 7, 2011 10:25AM
http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Sport/5727958-147/ogun_volleyball_team_disqualified_for_fielding.csp

[img]http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.common.streams.StreamServer.cls?CONTENTTYPE=image/jpeg&STREAMOID=4yQonS1dUzGv74sYul_8sC6SYeqqxXXqBcOgKOfTXxT5Tc0oB_VdO$4efPQTxC48nW_PgxgftuECOcfJwS6Jtlp$r8Fy$6AAZ9zyPuHJ25T7a9GKDSxsGxtpmxP0VAUyHL6IDcZHtmM2t7xO$FHdJG95dFi6y2Uma3vSsvPpVyo-[/img]

The male volleyball team representing Ogun State in the ongoing 17th edition of National Sports Festival, Port Harcourt was disqualified from the games as some of the players were discovered to be foreigners.

The discovery was made at the Adokie Amiesimaka Stadium following a protest by Edo State officials after Ogun State had defeated them in the quarter-finals.

Efforts by Ogun State officials to convince the technical committee of the games that the players - Kabril Lawal, Are Timothy, Quadri Shittu and Timothy Stephen - are Nigerians from Ipokia, Ado/Odo Ota in Yewa area of the state failed and the team were eventually sent packing from the competition.

However, as at the time of filing this report, Ogun officials have protested the disqualification

Team Lagos hauls boxing gold
By Innocent Amomoh 1 hour ago
http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/football-golf-boxing/11837-team-lagos-hauls-boxing-gold.html

The monthly Saturday Boxing Show in Lagos paid off handsomely for the state's boxing team as it recorded seven Gold medals on the last day of the National Sports Festival in Rivers State.With this feat, the Team Lagos brought its total to 11 gold medals.

Taiwo Agbaje defeated Lasisi Aliu of Rivers in the 52kg, while in the 51kg, Adebayo Mutiat defeated Adeniyi Fajoke of Ekiti to win the gold medal. 54kg Fatai Sikiru got the better of Sanusi Abiodun of Ogun.

Oladosu Rilwan beat Edo State's Osamudiamuwen(11-1). Fijabi Olaide competing in the 64kg defeated Umea Ugochukwu of Rivers (20-0), while female boxer, Kate Peters beat Obiwunmi Martha of Edo State (7-2) to win in the 64kg category.

However in the 81kg category, Sango Muri lost to (1-11) to Nehikhare Nosa of Oyo State, while the 7th gold medal of the day came in the 81kg of the female category, where Temi Are of Lagos defeated Amusa Zainab of Benue (9-0).

Seven-year old dazzles in Chess
By Florence Nkem Israel and Akeem Lawal, Port Harcourt 08/07/2011 00:06:00
http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/football-golf-boxing/11737-seven-year-old-dazzles-in-chess.html

[img]http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/thumbnail.php?file=Nation_Sport_279151054.jpg&size=article_medium[/img]
THE 17th National Sports Festival, the Garden City Games 2011 witnessed one of its most exciting times when a seven-year old girl Iyefu Onoja representing Benue state in Chess stunned the experienced participants at the event to win a bronze medal at the conclusion of the Chess games yesterday, at the Multi-Purpose hall of the Alfred Spiff Diette Sports Complex, popularly called Civic Centre.

The young girl who incidentally also turned seven yesterday, does not even understand the import of what she performed but was only excited playing her game as a way of catching her fun and went the first four games unbeaten until she lost in the semis and finally emerged third in the category that she featured.

Her size and age baffled many who understand the game of Chess and what it takes and that has led to her winning the award of the youngest participant and medallist at the 17th National Sports Festival. Little Iyefu told NationSport that her uncle taught her how to play Chess three years ago and that she likes playing the game.

"My name is Iyefu Onoja. I am seven years old. My uncle is teaching how to play chess for about three years now. I am in Primary three. The name of my school is God of Abraham Primary School, behind Modern Market. I have beaten five people, big people. My Uncle brought me to this place, he too he used to play Chess, his name is Sleames Anderson".

Speaking with Mr. Andrew Onoja who is the proud coach of the young star, NationSport gathered that she was picked up when she was three years old and has been at various competitions including the Benue State Sports Festival where she won two gold medals.

" My name is Onoja Andrew but am popularly called Sleames Anderson. I’m both a Chess player and a Chess coach. What actually motivated me was that the first time she saw the game, her interest rose and she began to learn it fast. When I introduced her to the first champion ship, international Chess tournament in Lagos, she chose to play a lady but she was classified as U-14 category but I knew that she was far above that level and so I had to introduced her to the 17th National Sports Festival which is an open tournament that has no category involved and my intention was to use this medium to open the eyes of the Nigeria Chess Federation. I want them to know that it is the spirit and not the body that actually rules a man. "When I picked her up, she was three years old, with mucus in her nose and that is because experience has taught me that it is better to work with little kids than adults. At the Chess event in Lagos she was rated 3/9 but at the Benue State Sports Festival, she had two gold medals, including one from the classic events. and that is what gave her the entry into the 17th National Sports Festival, the Garden City games".

The coach did not end there, he explained that he intends to help her get to more international competitions and to win laurels for Nigeria as they actually foresaw her performance yesterday.

"Today she turned seven. 07/07/2011 and she has won a bronze medal today. We saw this coming and my intention is to expose her at world tournament to represent her mother land Nigeria at the Olympics, Commonwhealth games and other international events and we know that nothing stops the rising sun and what I know is that the manifestation that has taken place today will surely also manifest more at those events."

He also explained that Iyefu's parents did not buy the idea at first until they started seeing her make news in the local tabloid in Benue before they realised their child was a star in the making.

Accusation trails Rivers’ medal haul
By Akeem Lawal and Florence Israel, Port Harcourt 42 minutes ago
http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/football-golf-boxing/11840-accusation-trails-rivers%E2%80%99-medal-haul.html

As the 17th National Sports Festival tagged the Garden City Games is set to come to a close today, accusations and counter accusations continues to trail host, Rivers State as other participants believe the state’s medal haul were achieved by dubious means.

[b]Rivers is ensuring its aim of hosting to win by leading the medals table with 105 gold, 54 silver and 59 bronze medal at the time of filing this report, while Delta State is at distance 2nd spot with 34 gold, 23 silver and 29bronze medals. position, having 64 gold, 72 silver and 62 bronze medal, with Edo holding up to the 3rd position

Many of other teams that either failed to win or their qualification for medal slot were dashed by Rivers have been pointing accusing fingers to the host for buying medals and fielding ineligible athletes.

Some of the states that accused Rivers includes, Kaduna, Delta, Niger, Edo and Benue, whiles states like Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa believes it was the early preparation by Team Rivers that was responsible for the domination of various sports they partake.

Reporting his grievance, the Director of Sports, Benue State, Gilbert Ikaso said the host resulted to use alien athletes to prosecute some of the competitions they participated in.

"I can tell you that aliens are being used by the host. One of my coaches who informed me about the incident said he was nearly lynched by athletes who were against the National Sports Festival that is aimed at discovering hidden talents, to be used at the All Africa Games and the Olympics. If we don’t have the athletes that will represent the country there by depriving our own indigenous athletes the chance of representing their country at international level", he said.

In his reaction, the public relations officer to the Edo State Sports ministry, Precious Igbonwelundu accused the host of using mercenaries (professional players) to prosecute the female football event of the games.

"It is so shameful that Rivers State is using professionals to compete. As I speak to you, it appears it's only Edo State that brought amateur players in football. How can we develop sports in Nigeria when States have refused to abide by the rules guiding the National Sports Festival? The goal of the National Sports Festival is to develop new talents that can be groomed to professional level, but with the use of professionals in the games, I think one will not be wrong to say that the aim is defeated’ she was quoted to have said.

Also, the Leader of Kaduna State delegation, Abdul Azeez Muhammed, Perm. Sec Ministry of Youth and Sports, Niger State, including the Executive Chairman, Delta State Sports Commission, Amaju Pinnick joined in accusing the host of not adhering to the aims and objectives of the festival.[/b]

"We (Delta State) are satisfied with our second place so far because we won our medals decently. We have no reason to question our position," said the Delta sports boss.

But rising in the defense of the host, the Chairman National Sports Commission (NSC), Patrick Ekeji believes the accusation is unfounded and has no evidence of truth.

"Let us not reduce it to beer palour allegation because the allegations are not true because the National Sports Commission have no team. We are responsible for organizing festival through the Local Organising Committee, we have the rules that have been laid down.

"It is malicious for anybody to make such statement without giving proof. Of course in Nigeria when you lose, everything is bad and when you win everything is in order. From the NSC angle, as the custodian of the National Sports Festival, we keep looking at the way we could improve it and I can tell you, we have recorded milestone in the organization and conducting the festival."

Collaborating Ekeji’s point, the Per. Sec Ministry of Sports, Akwa Ibom State, Mrs Roselyn Ekweme believes Rivers State took the festival seriously as they have been preparing for the games early enough.

This whole thing is just a farce like the PDP elections down south 1st person will carry 200 gold then next person will be at 50. I went to watch taekwando the other day and it was just a waste of my time as those people will not do well in African competitions not to talk of globally.

This is ridiculous. How can a state which came eight in the national sports festival now turn out to win this one by a wide margin. Must we rig in everything?

New talents cannot be discovered in such a charade as this.

It's an absolute disgrace, if you are looking to gauge how corrupt this society is, this is a perfect case study!!
Funny thing is most of these state coming tops would have done well if they just allowed things to go according to plan
but no they import athletes, use players from clubs and even past Olympians and bulldoze officials

The festival must have been an avenue for govt officials to embezzle funds in their usual maner.i am sure even the buying of medals must have also been a money making venture.
after making their millions, they should just manage to maintain the facilities they built.
at least it will be useful to the common man.