Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, has attributed the power outage that disrupted the men’s 10,000m final at the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival in Abeokuta to a technical glitch in the newly renovated MKO Abiola Sports Complex.
The incident occurred on Saturday evening during the final race of the day, plunging the stadium into darkness for about 20 minutes as athletes completed the long-distance event without floodlights.
Plateau State’s Francis James emerged winner with a time of 30:36:50. However, the athlete lamented that the blackout affected his rhythm and denied him the opportunity to achieve a faster time.
Speaking at a World Press Conference on Sunday in Abeokuta, Dikko described the outage as an unforeseen technical issue typical of new infrastructure.
“We had just left the stadium when it happened,” Dikko said. “It was a technical glitch that can occur in newly commissioned facilities, especially one that has been operating continuously for days. Thankfully, it was resolved quickly, which shows the team was on top of the situation.”
He acknowledged the unfortunate timing of the incident, noting that the race could not be paused mid-competition. Dikko also hinted at the possibility of future contingency measures such as solar backup systems to avoid similar disruptions.
The 2024 National Sports Festival, hosted by Ogun State, continues to gather momentum with 2,150 medals up for grabs across 549 events. The competition features 626 gold, 626 silver, and 898 bronze medals.
A highlight of this year’s edition is the introduction of the Invited Junior Athletes category, aimed at giving young talents a platform to compete alongside elite athletes and gain national exposure.
Despite Saturday’s glitch, the festival remains one of the largest and most inclusive editions in recent history, drawing widespread participation and raising the bar for sports development in Nigeria.
