Category: National

  • FEPSGA 2025 Opens in Yola, Highlights Unity in Public Service

    FEPSGA 2025 Opens in Yola, Highlights Unity in Public Service

    The 44th Federation of Public Service Games (FEPSGA) officially opened on Thursday in Yola, Adamawa State, with calls for unity, collaboration, and renewed synergy across Nigeria’s public service.

    Declaring the Games open, Deputy Governor Kaletapwa Farauta said the event underscores Adamawa’s capacity to host national tournaments and its commitment to using sports for economic growth and youth engagement.

    “Sports remain one of the strongest tools for integration, peace, and collective progress,” Farauta said.

    FEPSGA President, Aloku Amaebi, commended the Adamawa State Government for hosting one of the country’s largest multi-sport gatherings, describing it as a testament to the resilience of Nigeria’s public servants and the improved security situation in the North-East.

    “This hosting is symbolic—it shows that the North-East is open, safe, and ready for national events,” Amaebi said.

    Over the next three days, athletes from 84 ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) will compete in 16 sports including football, volleyball, basketball, tennis, and badminton.

    The Ministry of Works won the march-past event, followed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

    Head of Service and Local Organising Committee Chairman, Abubakar Shehu, said more than 10,000 athletes are participating, adding that the Games would foster national unity and stronger public service bonds.

  • Gateway Games 2025: Delta dusts the rest

    Gateway Games 2025: Delta dusts the rest

    Team Delta has soared to 103 medals after Day Seven of the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival (NSF) tagged ‘Gateway Games’ in Ogun.

    Delta won 44 gold, 19 silver and 40 bronze, bringing the state’s total medals haul to 103.

    The official medals table of the NSF tagged ‘Gateway Games 2024’ indicated that Bayelsa maintained  its second position with 33 gold, 23 silver and 23 bronze medals, totaling 79.

    Meanwhile, Rivers remained third with 26 gold, 21 silver and 26 bronze medals.

    Team Ogun garnered 25 gold, 16 silver and 24 bronze medals to consolidate in the fourth position, while Oyo tightly held onto to the fifth with 14 gold, 17 silver and 21 bronze medals.

    The table at the time of filing this report showed that a total of 709 medals have so far been won.

    NAN reports that Taraba is the latest state to join the medals table with one silver.

    The NSF is a biennial multi-sport event organised by the Federal Government.

    It brings together athletes from all 36 states and the FCT to compete in various sports, promoting national unity, sportsmanship, and excellence across Nigeria.

    STATE TEAM  GOLD SILVER BRONZE TOTAL

    1. Delta 44 19 40 103

    2. Bayelsa 33 23 23 79

    3.Rivers  26 21 26 73

    4.Ogun 25 16 24 65

    5.Oyo 16 17 21 54

    6. Edo 14 48 45 107

    7. Lagos 11 11 25 47

    8. Osun 10 1 4 15

    9. Abia 6 8 21 35

    10.Plateau 4 3 11 18

    11.Akwa Ibom 4 3 4 11

    12.FCT. 3 2 6 11

    13.Cross River 3 1 1 5

    14.Invited Junior Athletes (IJA) 2 5 2 9

    15. Anambra 1 5 5 11

    16.Imo 1 4 7 12

    17.Niger. 1 3 2 6

    18.Kwara 1 2 3 6

    19.Nasarawa 1 1 7 9

    20. Kano 0 3 6 9

    21. Borno 0 3 1 4

    22.Benue 0 1 6 7

    23.Ekiti 0 1 3 4

    24. Ondo 0 1 2 3

    25. Bauchi 0 1 1 2

    26. Kaduna 0 1 1 2

    27. Taraba 0 1 0 1

    28. Kebbi 0 0 1 1

    TOTAL. 206 205 298 709 

  • National Sports Festival: FCT dominate north central zonal qualifier

    National Sports Festival: FCT dominate north central zonal qualifier

    Team FCT on Friday dominated other athletes from across the North Central zone to secure qualification for the 22nd National Sports Festival.

    This was following intense week-long zonal eliminations which began on Monday and ended on Friday in Jos.

    No fewer than 100 athletes represented the FCT at the National zonal qualifier for slots ahead of the National Sports Festival in Ogun.

    According to the official results released by the National Sports Commission (North Central Zone), FCT emerged dominant.

    It topped  multiple categories, while Plateau, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Benue, and Nasarawa also earned places in various team sports.

    In basketball, Plateau (male) and FCT (female) clinched first place, with FCT (male) and Plateau (female) taking the second slots.

    FCT also excelled in beach volleyball, securing both male and female top positions, with Plateau finishing second in the male category.

    Kwara and Kogi took the top spots in cricket, while FCT and Benue claimed first place in football (male and female, respectively), with Kwara earning second place in the male division.

    Other notable performances included FCT’s dominance in handball (male), Kogi’s triumph in handball (female), and Plateau sweeping both categories in hockey.

    Meanwhile, Kwara and Nasarawa emerged first in male and female volleyball, respectively, with Plateau finishing as runners-up in both categories.

    With the zonal eliminations concluded, these teams will now prepare to represent the North Central Zone at the 22nd National Sports Festival, where they will compete against the best from other regions.

  • 2025 National Sports Festival: Team Imo is ready – Commissioner

    2025 National Sports Festival: Team Imo is ready – Commissioner

    Mr Obinna Onyeocha, Imo State Commissioner for Sports says the state’s contingent is ready for the 2025 National Sports Festival.

    Onyeocha said this while addressing newsmen in Owerri, on Friday.

    The commissioner said that Team Imo was spurred for victory in the forthcoming festival in Ondo State and had the full support of the state government.

     “We are fully prepared for the season and to further prove that, the governor recently donated three buses to heartland teams, one to the women team and two to the men team.

     “We have also established Heartland Queens feeder team, the idea is to catch them young, those who have done well will be moved to the main team.

     “In the last season, Heartland Queens finished top six in Bayelsa, they have had their opening game of the season with Ekiti Queens FC and we are expecting them to do better this season,” he said.

    He, however, said that he realised that expectations were high on the Heartland FC, and appreciated the efforts of the team’s Technical Adviser, Emmanuel Amuneke.

    According to him, Amuneke is stepping up the game for the ‘Naze millionaires’, expressing hope that more victory will come and Imo football enthusiasts will not be disappointed.