Dikko blames Gateway Games power outage on technical glitch

Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, has explained that the power outage which occurred during the men’s 10,000m final of the 2024 National Sports Festival at the MKO Abiola Sports Complex on Saturday was caused by a technical glitch.

The men’s 10,000m final was the last race on the second day of athletics at the 22nd edition of the games, which is hosted by Ogun State.

The stadium was thrown into darkness midway through the event, and it lasted for about 20 minutes as the athletes completed the race in the dark.

Plateau State’s Francis James won the race in a time of 30:36:50, but the long-distance specialist said that the unexpected power outage during the final significantly disrupted his rhythm and denied him a chance to clock a much faster time.

Coincidentally, the lights were restored after the race was completed.

At a World Press Conference in Abeokuta on Sunday, Dikko excused the situation on the new state of the renovated stadium.

“We had just left the stadium when that happened,” Dikko responded

“Basically, 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.

“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.

“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.”

The race is also getting intense on the medals table with a total of 2,150 medals on offer in 549 events.

The multi-sport event, regarded as Nigeria’s version of the Olympics, is poised to be one of the most expansive in the festival’s history, with 626 gold, 626 silver, and 898 bronze medals up for grabs.

A major new feature of NSF 2024 is the introduction of the Invited Junior Athletes category. This will allow junior athletes to compete alongside more experienced athletes, offering them an opportunity to exhibit their talent on a national stage.