The Nigerian National Sports Festival is a biennial multi-sport event organized by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the National Sports Commission for athletes from the 36 States of Nigeria.
Started and staged in 1973 at the National Stadium, Surulere in Lagos, the game was originally conceived as a "unifying tool" with the main purpose of promoting peace and cross-cultural affiliation in Nigeria after the Nigerian Civil War in 1970. The game also serves as a development and training event to aid athletes prepare for continental and international meets. The objectives of the National Sports Festival is:
To build a robust talent pool of athletes To enhance and elevate sports at grassroots level To establish a standard programme for athletes’ succession To enhance and elevate sports at grassroots level To curb age cheating in Sports To encourage early participation in Sports To engage young athletes in the Olympic Movement, skill development and social responsibility To enhance cultural and educational development To promote National unity
COVID-19 and Nigerian National Sport Festival
The 2020 edition of the biennial sporting event was set to take place in March 2020 at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, Edo State. However, due to the global health crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was postponed to December 2020. The sporting event further suffered another set back as a result of the second wave of the spread of the virus and the event was postponed to 2021.
Winners tables Below is a table displaying the host cities/states, winners, and years of each festival. SNTOURNAMENTSTADIUMCITYSTATEYEARWINNER1LAGOS '73NATIONAL STADIUM, SURULERE, LAGOSLAGOSLAGOS1973MID-WESTERN2LAGOS '75NATIONAL STADIUM, SURULERE, LAGOSLAGOSLAGOS1975MID-WESTERN3KADUNA '77AHMADU BELLO STADIUMKADUNAKADUNA1977BENDEL4OLUYOLE '79LIBERTY STADIUMIBADANOYO1979BENDEL5BENDEL '81BENIN CITYBENDEL1981BENDEL6KWARA '85ILORINKWARA1985BENDEL7RIVERS '88PORT HARCOURTRIVERS1988BENDEL8LAGOS '89NATIONAL STADIUM, SURULERE, LAGOSLAGOSLAGOS1989LAGOS9BAUCHI '91BAUCHIBAUCHI1991ZONE 2 (BENDEL, ONDO, RIVERS)10BENUE '96MARKURDIBENUE1996LAGOS11IMO '98OWERRIIMO1998LAGOS12BAUCHI '00BAUCHIBAUCHI2000DELTA13EDO '02BENIN CITYEDO2002EDO14ABUJA '04ABUJAABUJA2004DELTA15GATEWAY '06ABEOKUTAOGUN2006DELTA16KADA '09KADUNAKADUNA2009DELTA17RIVERS '11PORT HARCOURTRIVERS2011RIVERS18LAGOS '12LAGOSLAGOS2012DELTA19ABUJA '18ABUJAABUJA2018DELTA20EDO '21BENIN CITYEDO2021DELTA21DELTA '22ASABADELTA2022DELTA22GATEWAY '24GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL STADIUMSHAGAMUOGUN2025DELTA *In 1976, The Mid-Western state became known as Bendel State. Also, Bendel State was split into Edo and Delta states in 1991.
References
External links Official website