National Sports Festival: Eko 2012

The Sports Festival actually started in 1973 and has been running till date. Except in 1983, 1987, 1993 and 1995, the festival has been religiously held biennially as a multi- sports festival. The National Sports Festival has become a veritable instrument for National Unity, cohesion, peace, mutual understanding, friendship, cross-cultural affiliation as well as other positive values. So far, 17 editions of the NSF have come and gone, the last one hosted by Rivers State, and each contributing to the promotion of the spirit of the Games toward National Development. The National Sports Festival (NSF) was conceived as a socio-psychological initiative to rebuild the psyche of the Nigerian Nation which was traumatized by civil war in the late 1960s.

Objectives of the NSF:  The promotion of mass participation in sports from the grassroots level throughout the country.  The promotion of keen and healthy competition amongst the competitors under an atmosphere of sportsmanship and friendly interaction with a view to enhancing and strengthening national unity.  Identification of talents for further development.  The provision of opportunities for hosting states to acquire and upgrade sports facilities.  The promotion of socio-cultural integration thereby enhancing national unity. The 18th National Sports Festival tagged Eko 2012” started on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 and ended Sunday, December 9, 2012 in Lagos State.

18th NSF, Lagos - EKO 2012 Statistics / Facts The following Sports were featured: ATHLETICS BADMINTON BASKETBALL BOXING CHESS CRICKET CYCLING FOOTBALL GYMNASTICS HANDBALL HOCKEY JUDO KICKBOXING SCRABBLE SQUASH SWIMMING TABLE TENNIS TAEKWONDO TENNIS TRADO-SPORTS VOLLEYBALL WEIGHTLIFTING WRESTLING 3 Special Sports:  Para-Athletics  Para-Powerlifting  Para-Table Tennis

18th NSF, Lagos - EKO 2012 Statistics / Facts  A total of 9,502 Athletes participated in the festival with 1,392 Coaches  68% (6,427) of Athletes were Male, 32% Female  A total of 1,424 medals were won  The three Sports with the most events are Special Sports (52), Athletics (45), Kickboxing (34)  Total Gold medal won 423, Silver (422), Bronze (579)  Civil Servants and Students accounted for over 60% of participants  Athletics (893), Special Sports (861), Trado-Sports (740), Football (486) and Kickboxing (482) had the highest number of athletes  Lagos had the highest number of Athletes (742), Rivers (689), Delta (652), Ogun (542) and Edo (484)

18th NSF, Lagos - EKO 2012 Statistics / Facts  Delta state won the highest Medals (288), with 114 Gold, 99 Silver and 75 Bronze medals  Rivers state was 2 nd with 217 Medals while Lagos states emerged 3 rd with 182 medals  At least 3 of 7 Delta Athletes won a medal. Less than 3 of 10 Rivers state Athletes won a medal, while less than 2 of 13 Lagos state Athletes won a medal  Ebonyi had the least number of Athletes, 70, Jigawa (72), Kebbi (80), Sokoto (89), Nasarawa (100)  Data for Age range, though available but were inconsistent

Sports & Focus State According to the law of competitive advantage; Countries (as well as Individuals) are advised to stick to their area of competitive advantage, areas where they can achieve excellent results with minimal effort. Similarly, some States have been known for specific sports; as a result they excel effortlessly. These Sports can be identified and invested in with the aim of achieving greater results at the World stage – Olympics! The next slides profiles each game and the respective States that won medals; this simply help identify States where such sports are practiced and results achieved with less efforts.

Sports & Focus State: Athletics SportEventState Athletics1,500MAbia, Plateau, Cross River, Lagos, Rivers 10,000MBauchi, Lagos, Delta 100MCross River, Edo, Ogun, Ondo, Rivers, Delta 100M HurdlesRivers, Cross River 20km Walk RaceDelta, Imo, Rivers, Ogun 3,000M Steeple Chase Jigawa, Cross River 400MEdo, Rivers, Ekiti, Ogun, Rivers 400M HurdlesFCT, Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Imo 5,000MBayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Lagos, Delta

No. SportEventState DiscussOndo, Rivers, Delta HammerRivers, Delta, Ondo HeptathlonRivers, Lagos, Delta High JumpRivers, Delta, JavelinAnambra, Benue, Delta, Enugu, Benue Long JumpRivers, Lagos, Delta MarathonCross River, Bayelsa, Abia, Nasarawa Shot PutAkwa Ibom, Delta, Abia, Rivers Triple JumpEnugu, Delta, Rivers, Ekiti Sports & Focus State: Athletics

No. SportEventState Badminton Doubles Edo, Kwara, Lagos, Rivers, Delta, FCT, Taraba Mixed DoublesDelta, Rivers SinglesDelta, Kwara, Oyo, Rivers, Rivers, FCT Basketball No. SportEventState FemaleFCT, Lagos, Rivers MalePlateau, Rivers, Oyo Sports & Focus State: Badminton

Sports & Focus State: Boxing SportEventState Boxing+81kgBayelsa, Delta, Ogun, Ondo +91kgBenue, Ogun, Lagos, Delta 48kgBorno, Cross River, Ogun, Edo 49kgEdo, Oyo, Lagos, Ogun 51kgDelta, Ogun, Lagos, Edo 52kgOndo, Bauchi, Enugu 54kgAbia, Imo, Lagos, Ogun 56kgBenue, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo 57kgEkiti, Enugu, Ondo, Ogun

Sports & Focus State: Boxing SportEventState Boxing60kg Borno, Cross River, Kwara, Ondo, Lagos Ogun, Abia 64kg Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Rivers, Lagos, Benue, Kogi 69kgBayelsa, Ogun, Lagos, Ondo, Delta, Niger 75kg Cross River, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Borno, Kogi 81kg Benue, Delta, Lagos, Osun, Ogun, Rivers, Bayelsa, Oyo 91kgAbia, Delta, Lagos, Kogi

Sports & Focus State: Chess SportEventState ChessBlitz EventOndo, Oyo, Cross River, Delta Board 1 Benue, Cross River, Delta, Lagos, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom Board 2Delta, Kebbi, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Anambra Board 3 Edo, Osun, Delta, Ondo, Adamawa, Plateau Board 4Delta, Ogun, Delta, Oyo, Cross River, FCT Board 5Imo, Osun, Oyo, Lagos, Rivers Board 6Edo, Oyo, Rivers, Akwa Ibom

No. SportEventState 20 OvalsRivers, Lagos, Anambra 40 OvalsRivers, Ogun, Delta Cycling No. SportEventState 30km TTTBorno, Plateau, Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers 50km 2 MTTAkwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta 50km TTTPlateau, Rivers, Delta 74KM TTTOgun, Rivers, Akwa Ibom Sports & Focus State: Cricket

Sports & Focus State: Gymnastic SportEventState BeamLagos, Edo Floor ExerciseLagos, Ekiti, FCT, Edo IndividualFCT, Ekiti, Lagos, Edo Parallel BarRivers, Delta, FCT Pommel HorseEdo, Ekiti, Delta, Ondo TeamFCT, Ekiti, Lagos, Edo VaultEdo, FCT, Lagos, Ekiti, Delta

No. SportEventState FemaleOndo, Rivers, Lagos MaleOndo, Lagos, Borno Hockey No. SportEventState FemaleLagos, Delta, Rivers MaleDelta, Lagos, Nasarawa Sports & Focus State: Handball

Sports & Focus State: Scrabble SportEventState DoublesRivers, Akwa Ibom, Ogun Doubles IntermediateDelta, FCT, Ondo Doubles MastersLagos, Edo, Delta Doubles OpenCross River, Delta, Lagos TeamOgun, Delta, Akwa Ibom Team IntermediateAkwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River Team MastersAkwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta Team OpenAkwa Ibom, Lagos, Delta

No. SportEventState Single Delta, Ogun, Ondo, Rivers, Lagos, Edo, Rivers Table Tennis No. SportEventState DoublesLagos, Delta, Ogun MixedDelta, Lagos SinglesLagos Sports & Focus State: Squash

Sports & Focus State: Swimming SportEventState 1,500M freestyleDelta, Ondo 100M backstrokeDelta, Edo 100M breaststrokeCross River, Rivers, Delta 100M butterflyRiver, Delta, Lagos, Ondo 100M freestyleDelta, Lagos 200M backstrokeAkwa Ibom, Delta, Edo 200M breaststrokeCross River, Ondo, Delta, Rivers, Ogun 200M FREESTYLEOndo, Delta

Sports & Focus State: Swimming SportEventState 200M ind. medleyDelta, Lagos 4 x100M freestyle ROndo, Rivers, Delta, Lagos 4 x 100M med. relayRivers, Delta, Lagos 4 X 200M freestyle RBayelsa, Delta, Lagos 400M freestyleAkwa Ibom, Ondo, Delta 400M ind. MedleyAkwa Ibom, Ondo, Delta, Edo 50M breaststrokeCross River, Rivers, Ondo, Rivers, Ogun 50M butterfly Delta, Ondo, Delta, Edo, Bayelsa, Rivers 50M freestyleBayelsa, Delta, Lagos 800M freestyleAkwa Ibom, Ondo, Delta

Sports & Focus State: Taekwondo SportEventState BANTAM Benue, Cross River, Imo, Lagos, Kano, Rivers FEATHER Kaduna, Ogun, Ondo, Yobe, Kano, Rivers, Enugu, Osun FIN Kano, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Nasarawa, Niger, Borno, Edo FLY Delta, Enugu, Oyo, Rivers, Bauchi, Kano, Edo HEAVY Akwa Ibom, Edo, Oyo, Rivers, Kaduna, Lagos, Delta INDIVIDUAL Ogun, Lagos, Rivers, Bauchi, FCT LIGHT Delta, Imo, Kano, Bayelsa, FCT, Edo MIDDLE Benue, Cross River, Lagos, Oyo, Delta, Rivers, Edo TEAM Rivers, Edo, Delta WELTER Akwa Ibom, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Edo, Delta

Sports & Focus State: Tennis SportEventState Doubles (Female)Delta, Imo, Rivers Doubles (Male)Benue, Delta, Akwa Ibom Mixed Doubles Cross River, Rivers, Delta, Imo Singles (Female)Niger, Ogun, Rivers Singles (Male)Akwa Ibom, Benue, Delta Volleyball FemaleLagos, Rivers, Delta MaleRivers, Lagos, Ondo

Sports & Focus State - Summary The identification of States where indigenes excel in specific Sports would assist the respective Sports Federations or Associations identify talents that can be developed for international programmes. Also, this would help the Government and other agencies identify Sports infrastructures that can be put in place to assist Athletes practice better and get them ready for future competitions.

Performance By Geo-political StateGoldSilverBronzeTotalTotal AthleteMedal to Team Imo Ebonyi Abia Enugu Anambra South East North East Bauchi Borno Adamawa Yobe Taraba Gombe South West Lagos Ondo Ogun Oyo Ekiti Osun

Performance By Geo-political North West North Central South Kano Jigawa Kaduna Kebbi Sokoto Zamfara Katsina FCT Abuja Plateau Niger Benue Nasarawa Kogi Kwara Delta Rivers Edo Bayelsa Cross River Akwa Ibom

Top 10 States (Return on Investment) StateGoldSilverBronzeTotalTotal AthleteMedal to TeamZone Delta SS Rivers SS Lagos SW Bayelsa SS Edo SS Cross River SS FCT Abuja NC Ondo SW Oyo SW Kano NW The medals table have the following as top 10; Delta, Rivers, Lagos, Edo, Ogun, Bayelsa, Ondo, Cross-River, Akwa-Ibom and Oyo. However, in terms of Return on investment (Medals to Athletes ratio); States like Ogun and Akwa-Ibom lost out in the race.

 The Medals table shows the 6 South South States among the Top 10 States, while 4 of the South West States accounted for the remaining.  The best placed South East States is Imo while Plateau emerged the best in the North Central. These are potential Olympic materials if well harnessed! In order to maximize the results of this Festival; each Athlete from States with competitive advantage in respective Sports should be actively engaged with quality training programmes focusing on up-coming Africa and other International competitions with the aim of Team Nigeria presenting the best in the 2016 Olympic games.

StateGoldSilverBronzeTotal Delta Rivers Lagos Edo Ogun Bayelsa Ondo Cross River Akwa Ibom Oyo Imo Plateau Benue FCT Abuja Kano Abia Ekiti51915 Enugu15814 Bauchi33713 Kwara12912 Kaduna22711 Niger42511 Borno1359 Jigawa3069 Ebonyi3238 Nasarawa3317 Osun2147 Kogi1236 Anambra0325 Yobe0145 Sokoto0044 Adamawa0134 Gombe0123 Katsina0033 Taraba0213 Kebbi1012 Zamfara Medals Table

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