When I published a story on this site with caption “CNS Swimming Tourney: Delta Police Command shines…As ACP S. Bello receives award” last week, I received a lot of comments from the readers, but the comment that took my mind and carried me away most was that of Barrister Yusuf Abdussalam.
But for simple clarification, Yusuf Abdussalam, a barrister of law, a hard copy and also an online publisher was my former colleague during our days at the Triumph Publishing Company.
Abdussalam used to be and is still my role model who through hard work and dedication to whatever or wherever he found himself made him who he is today. And that is what makes him a luminary in both journalism and law professions which he both studied and practiced.
And that is why I used to see him as a personality who is an inspiration to others. Myself is a good example.
So after going through my write-up, Barrister Abdussalam left down a statement “Delta dai a ko ina in Nigerian sports” meaning, (Delta always in Nigerian sports) as comment.
Immediately after reading his comment or reply, I got confused too because in recent times Delta state was always the venue of nearly all and every Nigerian sports events.
Remember that just last year, Delta hosted many National Games. It was the venue of the 2023 National Sports Festival, National Youth Games and it also hosted NNL Super Eight and many others.
But unfortunately I have never been to Delta state to understand or see for myself why it remained the hub and venue of all Nigerian sports events.
Therefore, to know the correct reply to Barrister Abdussalam’s comment, I had to look elsewhere and find one that will supply the needed answer which will put our nervousness to rest.
So, to get the needed answer, I approached the former Kano state Director of Sports, a PhD holder in Sports Management who was also the chairman of Nigerian Directors of Sports as well as an authority in the history of sports be it national or international, Dr. Bashari Ahmad Maizare.
My choice for Maizare was due to a number of reasons which had to do with his experience in the field and the number of years he had put in the field and the number of states he visited in the federation for one sports event or the other.
When I explained my mission to him, he without hesitation began by telling me that Delta state is the role model for Nigerian sports.
Dr. Maizare started by tracing Delta state’s exceptional track record in sports dates back to 1973. The state won the first edition of the National Sports Festival (NSF) under the now defunct Bendel State.
And when Delta and Edo were created from the old Bendel state in 1991, Delta continued with its winning streak of the National Sports Festival as the state continued to dominate successive editions of the Nigeria most prestigious sports gathering.
According to him, sports in the present Delta state is something else and the state is truly the home of Nigerian sports as sports in Delta state is hugely funded which makes it to be highly developed.
He further explained that the state has consistently proven its bravery in the sporting sector in Nigeria through the massive construction of various sporting infrastructures in the state.
Dr. Maizare further revealed that the reason why sports in Delta is developed above any other state in Nigeria is because of its seriousness in three areas namely: Personnel, facilities and competitions.
Under personnel, Delta used to recruit players, coaches and consultants from everywhere in Nigeria and the world at large. This boosts the number of quality sports men and women in the state. They used to scout players internally and externally.
To perfectly do that, they hired experienced coaches who will discover players from junior secondary schools and bring them together for a while and coach them to add value on the skill they already have or know.
They also used consultants to bring good athletes, players and coaches from any part of the state who will win medals for the state in any competition. To haunt them, they either gave them full or contract employment.
Under facilities, as I stated it above, there is no sports facility or structure that is not available or provided in Delta state. And that explains why it is the only state that hosted many sports events internally. The state also hosted the Confederation of African Athletics’ African Senior Athletics Championship in 2018.
For competition, Delta state, Dr. Maizare explained that Delta is using different competitions to develop sports. They have sporting competitions in different locations of the state. They organized sports in both junior and senior secondary schools. They also local government and senatorial zones just to catch them young.
That is why Delta state remained majestic in all Nigerian sporting competitions be it the National Sports Festival and other national sports.
The state is one of the few states endowed with a vast riverine area and also using it to develop sports especially aquatic sports.
That is why when the state discovered NSF as Nigeria’s Mini-Olympics and an elite sports competition involving all states of the Federation, they used to showcase their prowess in sports by winning the majority of the medals above every other state.
Delta State has been coming first position in the NSF since inception and since the state was created in 1991 more than any other state.
The state has been resilient in using sports as a tool for achieving state development objectives, a philosophy, majestically and pragmatically epitomized by the legendary sports philosopher and government leader of the Midwest and Bendel, General S. O. Ogbemudia.
From the available records, the late S. O. Ogbemudia of blessed memory, remains a legend in Nigerian Sports leadership. It is unarguable that Delta State has been exemplary in the replication of Ogbemudia’s approach to development and management of sports in Nigeria.
Even though it had no standard Sports infrastructure at creation in 1991 August, as at today it has installed a befitting Sports stadium that is used for many sporting events not only in the state but the nation in general.
Presently, Delta state has one of the best stadiums in the country. The Stephen Keshi Stadium is a multi-purpose complex in Asaba, Nigeria. It is a football and athletics stadium.
The stadium was commissioned in 2018 and hosted the 2018 African Championships in Athletics and has a capacity of 22,000 people, all covered.
The state is the first state to build a sports university at Idumuje-Ugboko. Sports University of Nigeria is established by the Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation to continually groom raw talents with the capacity to compete in apex global.
Delta is using Sports as a tool for the advancement of society. That is why the state has become a citadel of sports, producing awesome athletes for Nigeria in unlimited numbers.
We have seen and known the Brown Ebeweles, Bruce Ijirigho’s, Maria Osifos, the Bendel Insurance Football Club of excellence as the Hallmarks of S. O. Ogbemudia, amongst others. He created an Institute of Physical Education at Afuze that became the home of athletic excellence.
Delta state is the only state where its sports commission is heavily funded by the government as the account of the commission is always full with bank notes to carry out its functions of developing sports well and without delay.
Delta state has a solid, functional, policy-driven and law governed Sports Commission from where it has continued to churn out remarkable athletes.
Investigation has revealed that it is only Delta state that used to sponsor its athletes abroad on yearly basis for greener pasture, an action which has paid as many of those that enjoyed the scheme are gainfully employed in big clubs.
Delta State, like most states in Nigeria, is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural composition which as expected, often brings about ethnic disharmony and friction.
But they now used sports, as a tool to advance social cohesion, which is serving as a vehicle to address such issues. They achieved this via the organization of annual Local Government Sports Festivals, Inter-Local Government Competitions, Inter-Communities Competitions, etc. which had stemmed the tide of ethnic clashes between the several ethnic groups in the state.
So these are why Delta is what it is in Nigerian sports today