The Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, has clarified that a power outage during the men’s 10,000m final at the ongoing 2024 National Sports Festival was the result of a technical glitch.
The incident occurred Saturday evening at the MKO Abiola Sports Complex in Ogun State, as athletes competed in the final event of the day’s track schedule. Midway through the race, the stadium was plunged into darkness, forcing competitors to continue in low visibility conditions for nearly 20 minutes.
Despite the disruption, Plateau State’s Francis James secured victory at 30:36:50. However, the long-distance runner expressed frustration, saying the blackout affected his pacing and likely cost him a faster finish.
Speaking at a press conference in Abeokuta on Sunday, Dikko attributed the outage to the recently refurbished state of the venue.
“We had just left the stadium when that happened,” he said. “What happened was a technical glitch that can happen at a new infrastructure like this, which has worked for many days continuously. It could have been worse if it had taken the whole day to get it back on track. It was resolved immediately, and that showed we were on top of it.”
Dikko acknowledged the unfortunate timing of the outage. “Unfortunately, it happened when an event that couldn’t be stopped was going on. They were doing the men’s 10,000m race and we couldn’t have stopped them,” he added.
He also suggested plans may include alternative power sources. “In the long term, probably we will have some contingency plans like solar, depending on the load and other conditions that we have to factor,” he said.
The 22nd edition of the National Sports Festival continues in full swing, with 2,150 medals to be awarded across 549 events. A key innovation this year is the introduction of the Invited Junior Athletes category, aimed at giving younger competitors a platform alongside seasoned athletes.
With 626 gold, 626 silver, and 898 bronze medals up for grabs, the competition remains fierce as states vie for supremacy in Nigeria’s largest sporting showcase.
