Cross River will raise standard of National Sports Festival- Ugbe

How prepared is Cross River State towards hosting next year’s national sports festival? We are very prepared for the National Sports Festival. At this stage, we are yet planning to ensure that we put our facilities in order. The ones that we already have, we should be able to upgrade them to world class standard. […]

How prepared is Cross River State towards hosting next year’s national sports festival?
We are very prepared for the National Sports Festival. At this stage, we are yet planning to ensure that we put our facilities in order. The ones that we already have, we should be able to upgrade them to world class standard. The ones we do not have, we ensure that they are in place for the festival. That is what we are doinag. We are quite on course.
What informed the decision to host the festival?
Well, if you take into consideration the fact that Nigeria as a country has 36 states and Abuja as the FCT, and we belong to that federation, it means therefore that any state in the federation can host the games. And we feel that this is the time for us to step out and host it, which in Nigeria, is like our own version of the Olympic Games. Hosting the festival will enable us leave behind a good legacy of standard infrastructure. Beyond that you and I know that in this state we have a comprehensive sports development programme currently ongoing.
How will Cross River State benefit from hosting the festival?
We believe that the sports sector will benefit immensely from the festival. Besides, the national sports festival is one event in the country that can drive great traffic to a location. We also know that 16,000 sports men and women that are participants alone will be coming into Calabar throughout that period, excluding very many others that would come to watch and be part of the fun. That alone keys in perfectly to our state government’s tourism vision of creating events and activities to continually drive traffic to the state.
Most states that hosted the festival always target the top positions. What is Cross River State doing to meet the Lagos standard of last year or perform the same magic?
Well, those are two different things. ‘Meeting Lagos standard’, remember that Lagos did not top the games. So, in that regard, we are not looking at Lagos standard. We are looking at doing better than what Lagos did. In another regard, in hosting the festival itself, I have heard many say that Lagos set standard. Those standards we believe are surmountable. We believe strongly that we will definitely surpass that standard, especially in terms of organisation of the National Sports Festival.
How prepared are your own athletes for the games?
They are quite prepared. We already have a programme in place, talking about the state’s comprehensive sports programme. The programme will ensure that we develop our athletes that will represent the state.
You are aware of the security challenge in parts of the country. How safe are the athletes and other people that will be coming to Calabar?
Very Safe! I should be asking you that! It is a known fact that Cross River State is the safest place in the entire country which is why you can see that a lot of international and national conferences are being held here. As you know, too well, the state is also home to the three national football teams. This is why we are very certain and positive that all the participants in the 2014 National Sports Festival will be in a very safe and sound environment.
The festival will accommodate elite athletes, including the foreign based ones. How prepared is the state to receive them?
We are very prepared. It is just for us to ensure that the infrastructure meant for the games are top class. That is paramount. Number two is that the accommodation will equally be top class. Generally, in fact, it is just the organization that we require to be at the top level. We are very positive that we will do that.
What is the extent of work on the two stadia in Ikom and Ogoja, if they are meant for the festival?
Construction work has gone very far, talking about the Ikom stadium but Ogoja has not gone that far. This is because of the challenges that we faced. Ikom started off much earlier than Ogoja because of site issues in Ogoja. Now that work has started at Ogoja, it will certainly progress as expected but would be delivered later than Ikom. These stadia won’t be used for the festival. This is because all events of the festival must happen within a hundred kilometer radius. The stadia were not for the hosting of the festival but a part of our state’s blueprint to develop sports infrastructure across the state.
Is staging the annual Obudu Mountain International Race competition becoming a challenge to the state? Would you accept international funds to ease your burden?
We have always said that government is there to create environment. For us in sports, I think that that environment has been created. We have always yearned for private sector partnership to take sports to the next level. Obudu Mountain Race is not different. We yearn to have private sector partnership so that we can to sports to the next level. Government has consistently funded it one hundred per cent. That is not to say government won’t continue to do that. We want the private sector to see Obudu as truly the only international race in this country. There are many opportunities and benefits for partnership.