Niger Delta Sports Festival Kicks Off in Uyo, As Governor Umo Eno Calls for Support
By Tony Esin
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has called on citizens and residents to actively participate in the Niger Delta Sports Festival, which kicked off today, April 2, 2025, in Uyo. The one-week event aims to promote sports development in the region.
Governor Eno, who made the call during the April Edition of the Government House monthly covenant service, commended the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for upgrading the state's sports facilities. He said, "The NDDC Sports Festival will begin tomorrow April 2. It will be a one-week event. So, I urge all of us as sports lovers to please try and support any of the sports that you love by your attendance. Let's go out there to show our support to our people and the event. We are privileged to be the first State to host this festival."
The governor also expressed gratitude to the NDDC for repairing the state's sports facilities, saying, "We want to thank the NDDC for the first time that they have really blessed us with this sports festival. They have repaired a whole lot of our sports facilities in the State, and I have directed the Honourable Commissioner for Sports that these repaired facilities must not go down again."
Governor Eno announced plans to host the Akwa Ibom State Sports Festival annually, aiming to position the state as a tourism hub. "Once every year, we must have the Akwa Ibom State Sports Festival. We want to make our State a tourism State. So, as we are developing our tourism master-plan, I want to believe that there will be no quarter that Akwa Ibom State will not draw Nigeria's attention in the area of tourism, whether in sports or whatever areas of tourism."
Additionally, the governor announced that the Oron Federal Constituency will host the next Town Hall meeting on Saturday, April 5, 2025. "On Saturday, the 5th of this month, we will be heading to Oron Federal Constituency fyor Oron Town Hall meeting. That will be the second town hall meeting, and it's getting better by the day. After that, we will then go somewhere else."
The event featured a homily by the Catholic Bishop of Uyo Diocese, Most Rev. John Ebebe Ayah, who thanked God for the exceptional leadership of Pastor Umo Eno. The Chairman of the State's Christian Advisory Council and Catholic Archbishop of Calabar, Most Rev. Joseph Ekuwem, also commended Governor Eno for his humility and leadership disposition.
