Edo plans colourful closing ceremony for 20th NSF

As curtain falls on the 20th National Sports Festival, Edo 2020, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) has concluded plans to stage a colourful and memorable closing ceremony for the event which started on April 4 in Benin City.

The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, who is also the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, told journalists covering the festival that the cultural heritage of the state would again be highlighted at the closing ceremony.

He noted that some logistics affected the opening and the closing would be much better.

Shaibu said: “We had a nice time at the opening ceremony despite some logistics including the downpour but for the closing, we will bring in more entertainment to make everyone happy.

“Edo has a rich cultural heritage and we will again display that to the world on Wednesday.”

The Closing ceremony of the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival takes place on Wednesday at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City.

Meanwhile, the host state Edo won the two available gold medals in the men and women’s football events yesterday at the University of Benin Sports Complex in Ugbowo.

In the earlier Women’s final between Edo and Lagos, the host won 1-0 to pick the gold while Lagos and FCT settled for the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Edo later returned to pick the men’s football event gold medal after coming from two goals down to claim a 3-2 nail-biting victory over the Centre of Excellence state.

Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu played the last four minutes of the game to become the first sitting Number Two citizen of any state to win a National Sports Festival gold medal.