As the curtain was drawn in Abeokuta on Thursday following the closing ceremony of the 2024 National Sports Festival, Team Enugu State ended the festival with 16 medals.

The medals comprises one gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze. The feat marked a significant improvement in the team’s participation at the Festival compared to their previous outings.

With 88 athletes, Team Enugu participated in 12 sporting events. However, the para-athletes were the cynosure of eyes as they amassed the medals for the Coal City State

Speaking in an interview, the Public Relations Officer, Ministry of Youths and Sports Enugu State, San Onwuguna said the contingent could have won more gold medals but for technical decisions.

He commended the officials and athletes for their commitment and dedication, stressing that the performance is an eneegiszer ahead of the 2026 edition which will be hosted by the state.

“We could have won more gold medals but the technical officials brought up issues that ensured that the first gold medal we won was withdrawn and we were given silver instead. Nonetheless, I want to commend the athletes and officials for their brave performance. This performance is a tonic ahead of next year’s edition which we are hosting.

“I also want to thank our Governor, Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah and the Commissioner for Youth and Sports for their massive support which led to the medals we won,” he said.

Delta State retained their number one position on the table as the best sporting state in the country. The “Big Heart” State had a total of 337 medals including 126 gold, 100 silver and 111 bronze.

Host Ogun State came second with 238 medals while Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Oyo, Lagos, FCT, Osun and Akwa Ibom States came 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th respectively.

Zamfara and Kebbi States were ranked 37th and 36th with one bronze and two bronze medals, in that order.

Enugu State will host the 23rd edition of the National Sports Festival next year.

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Enugu State on Sunday continued its medal haul at the ongoing 2024 National Sports Festival in Ogun State with two athletes winning two silver medals for the Coal, City State.

Emmanuel Ugonna and Destiny Agbo won silver medals each in shot-put men and women, respectively to bring the total number of medals won by Team Enugu to 8.

Shedrack Ozoemena won a bronze medal in the middle weight 70 to 75 kg) Boxing Class.

He defeat Oyo State in quarter-final bout but  lost Silver or Gold medal race to Lagos State whom used 1 points to top Enugu State boxer in bout No: 220  on 25th May 2025  between Enugu State vs  Lagos State for battle of Silver or Gold medal

Enugu State will intensify its push for more medals as Wrestling began on Monday.

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By Amaechi Agbo

Abeokuta, Nigeria – The Enugu State Government is proposing to host the 23^rd edition of the National Sports Festival (NSF) in September next year.

Chairman, National Sports Commission, Alhaji Shehu Dikko disclosed this on Sunday during a world press conference to update Nigerians and the global community on the ongoing 22^nd edition of the festival in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Responding to a question asked by a journalist, Amaechi Agbo on the date of the next festival, the NSC Chairman noted that the Commission is streamlining the festival to hold in November/December every Sports Festival year.

Mr Dikko also expressed optimism on Enugu State’s readiness to host the “Nigerian Olympic Games” stressing that the Commission is in regular talk with the state about the hosting.

“We are working on streamlining the National Sports Festival to hold in November/December during the Festival year. We need to have a standard in this regard to help us maintain the festival. Apart from that, hosting it during November/December will help us to avoid bad weather due to rain.

“Enugu State is ready to host the next edition of the festival nest year. In fact, they are proposing to host in September and that tells you their preparedness. We are in regular touch with the state and we will continue to work collaboratively to ensure that the standard set in Ogun is improved upon,” he said.

On awarding the hosting rights to states ahead of time, the NSC chairman stated that states are already bidding to host the 2028 and 2030 editions of the Festival adding that the commission will announce the hosts for the next two editions after Enugu 2026, very soon.

The Federal Government and the Enugu State Government signed the hosting rights agreement in January and the state Governor, Barr Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah declared the state’s readiness to revamp sporting facilities in the state and host a world class festival.

“As you know, we like to be a role model as a state that gained pre-eminence over 115 years ago. We will not want to let our forebears down. We will live up to that standard.

“We have already set forth at dawn. Immediately that announcement was made, we mobilised our team. We are already working on revamping the Awgu Games Village and a whole lot. We have decided to deliver a brand new Games Village. We are also completely renovating the stadium to brand new.

“We are making sure that by the time you come here by the end of this year, you are going to be highly impressed. It is not revamping, rebranding or re-equipping, but we are also going to build additional facilities to the existing one. We are looking forward to having a word-class experience befitting the sports men and women, making our hosting a lifelong memory and experience,” he stated.

The State government has earmarked over 13 Billion for renovation of facilities including the Nnamdi Azitiwe Stadium and Awgu Games Village ahead of the 23^rd edition of the National Sports Festival.

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