A’Ibom to partner NDDC on sports festival

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has applauded the Niger Delta Development Commission for initiating the Niger Delta Sports Festival scheduled between April 1 to 9, 2025, in Uyo, the state capital.

Eno, who spoke during a courtesy visit by the NDDC’s management team, led by it Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, at the Government House, Uyo, accepted the commission’s invitation to host the festival.

This was contained in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Friday by the Director of Corporate Affairs, NDDC Seledi Thompson-Wakama.

Eno said, “Thank you for giving us the privilege to host this Sports Festival. We accept the invitation to host it gladly. The festival will not just promote our diversity; it will promote our local economy because many business activities will go on during the festival.

“We will set up a committee that will work with your team to ensure that we have a successful festival. We look forward to welcoming the Niger Delta people to Akwa Ibom so that we can have a good time together.”

Giving justification for the festival, Ogbuku stressed its significance in fostering unity and providing career pathways for young athletes.

He said the festival, which would take place at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, was part of the NDDC’s 25th-anniversary celebrations.

“We are here to talk about the Niger Delta Sports Festival. We have to work on our diversity and ensure that we have unity in diversity. We might be diverse in tongues, culture and tradition.

“Still, we are united as Niger Deltans because God has brought us together into one geographical region where we have common ecological and environmental challenges,” Ogbuku said.