Niger Delta Games: Paul Bassey seeks future Champions for Akwa Ibom

Akwa Ibom would focus more on the discovery and future grooming of athletes at the 2nd Niger Delta Games, scheduled to take place in Benin, Edo State, from 20 to 27 February.

Paul Bassey, the state’s commissioner for sports, revealed this policy thrust on Saturday while speaking on preparations for the regional games sponsored by the Niger Delta Games. He also disclosed that the State has registered 476 athletes and 64 coaches on the registration portal for the competition that will have contingents from eight other states.

Registration for participants closed on Friday, and the states are now to conduct trials to select the final list of athletes travelling to Benin for the Games.

Cathrine Ewa, the Akwa Ibom State director of coaching, announced that the profiles of 250 male and 226 female athletes were successfully uploaded to the Niger Delta Games central registration portals, alongside the profiles of 44 male and 20 female coaches.

While expressing optimism on the prospects of the state’s performance in the games, Bassey insisted that the state will be prioritising finding athletes for the future.

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“We have complied with the regulations bordering on eligibility of athletes by registering teenagers and youngsters, and for us, while it is important to win as many gold medals as possible at the games, we are also going to be placing a lot of emphasis on unearthing new talents in order to enrich our pool of sports stars for future endeavours”, he said.

Akwa Ibom hosted the maiden edition of the games in April 2025. The Niger Delta Games is a brainchild of Dunamis-Icon Limited. Lead Consultant, Itiako Ikpokpo (KSM), who is also the chairman of the Delta State Athletics Association.