Author: The Nation

Athletes from Rivers State have spoken excitedly about opportunities and potentials for a brighter future inherent in the Niger Delta Games (NDG)

Some of these athletes who will participate in athletics, basketball, table tennis and others have taken to their social media accounts promoting the games and speaking of their expectations.

The Rivers State basketball players, seen training for the second edition of the NDG coming up in Benin, Edo State, said they are excited at the prospect of defending the gold medal won in the event at the last edition of the NDG in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

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At the Basketball Court on Niger/ Bende Streets in Port Harcourt township, the players said they have been training hard to ensure that they defend their title.

Dalhati Wealth expressed confidence that his team will emerge victorious as they are learning new techniques and tactics to ensure victory.

 “As you can see every player is putting in good effort to be mentally and physically fit, including learning new tactics to be ready and maintain the level that saw us go all the way at the last Games.

” We started our preparation early because we want to achieve success at the end of the day. You know that if you don’t train and do not prepare early, you can’t perform when the chips are down,” Wealth said.

He used the opportunity to commend the Niger Delta Development Commission ( NDDC) for initiating the sports programme with the vision to develop, empower and provide and enduring platform for youths in the region.

”This competition will no doubt discover talents in the region, and it will equally expose us to both local and foreign scouts because you can never tell.

 “You know we only have one Youth Games every year but this has added to the calendar towards sports development and the engagement of young people, especially, at the grassroots level” he stated.

A very young looking Kelvin Harrison was seen in a promotional social media post boasting that his team would win gold for Rivers State.

“Hello Rivers people, my name is Kelvin Harrison, a handballer for Rivers State. I’ll be joining over 3000 other athletes participating in the 2nd Niger Delta Games in Benin, Edo State from February 20-27. I am so excited and can’t wait to be there. See you there as I go for gold”, Harrison said in the viral video.

Ebenezer Obas, added drama and fun when he rallied other basketball players on their training ground to add a psychological war dimension in a video. After introducing himself and speaking of their determination to retain the gold medal from the last edition, he invited others who stood behind him as they chorused “let’s go Rivers” as they broke into an opponent daring chant.

Also speaking, another athlete, Hector Tobogu also commended NDDC for the initiative, saying that the tournament has discovered hidden talents in the area.

 “This competition has helped many youths develop interest in different sporting activities and is another way to showcase talents. As an athlete if you don’t compete in tournaments or competitions, you will not know your strength and improvement would be very difficult,” Tobogu said.

Organisers of the Niger Delta Games say the competition will continue to be an integral part of the sporting calendar of the National Sports Commission for the overall objective to change the trajectory of  the grassroots sports development in Nigeria.

Malik Ikpokpo (KSM), Chairman of Dunamis Icon , organisers of the Niger Delta Games, said as much  during a courtesy visit to the Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC) Hon. Bukola Olopade.

Ikpokpo said his visit to the NSC  was to formally brief the Director General on the preparations towards the successful staging of the games this year in Edo state.

He stated that the successful organisation of the first edition of the games last year in Akwa Ibom state was largely due to the strategic support of the NSC under the leadership of Mallam Shehu  and Hon Bukola Olopade.

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” We are very excited at the Niger Delta games that we have a very cordial relationship with the NSC and they have been very supportive in providing us with every form of technical and logistic assistance.

” This is why I am here to let the DG know our level of preparation as regards what our sponsor, NDDC are doing and how far we have gone with our host, Edo state, in their readiness to welcome the entire nine Niger Delta states.”

He added that the Niger Delta Games is not just another competition but a sustainable breeding ground to discover and nurture Nigeria’s future talents.

” The Niger Delta games align perfectly with the new vision of the NSC to have a vibrant and sustainable sports economy that works through organisation of regular domestic competitions of international standard”, he concluded.

The 2026 Niger Delta games is scheduled to hold  between  February 20^th  and  26^th  in Edo state.