By Ejike Anyaduba
The weeklong police games held in Anambra state, and jointly sponsored by both the police and the state government, have come to an end. Adjudged one of the best in organization by both participants and spectators, the upshot was quite impressive and did not come short of any previously held.
In fact, the Inspector General of the Police – the smart looking Adamu Mohammed- called it the best. So far the IG’s observation appears inviolate as no one has contradicted it except one or two dissenting voices who prefer feeds from the social media to facts on ground.
Regardless, the games came with enthralling satisfaction from start to finish. The opening ceremonies were as fascinating as the closing ones. The competitors were determined to rake in medals while taking no prisoners. Everyone exerted themselves and strove hard to out perform one another. None staked greater claims to victory, but all pedalled to the metal. In the end, the Force Headquarters, Abuja, proved a cut above the rest and carted home most of the laurels.
But that was as far as the games went. The positive effects of the hosting have continued to redound to the credit of the state. Though Anambra was the first to host the games in the southeast zone since the more than a decade of the biennial sporting activities across Nigeria, but the just concluded event was most supremely organized and rewarding.
First, the successful hosting has shown the state as capable of organizing similar events like the Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA), National Sports Festival(NSF),and as an ancillary to hosting of such mega games as the West African Games, Commonwealth etc without provoking doubts. Until these games, it was thought that the only states capable of hosting such events in the east are Enugu and Imo because of the obvious advantages of the cities of Enugu and Owerri. But Anambra has proved that even when thrown at the deep end it will overcome.
Secondly, the state can now boast of sporting facilities hitherto unavailable. It is true that the state is blessed with sports icons like Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna of the 1954 Vancouver, Canada,Commonwealth games feat, Power Mike, Mary Onyali, Francis Obikwelu, Innocent Egbunike, Albert Onyeanwuna, Paul Egonye, among others, but most of these people did not hone their sporting skills in the state. They did elsewhere.
Fortunately, the narrative has changed since the games. The Alex Ekwueme Square, formerly a mere parade ground with just a pavilion, now has an Olympic-size swimming pool, basket ball, hand ball and volley ball courts nestled in it.
Ditto for other venues used for the weeklong activities. No longer will promising athletes from the state be compelled to seek recourse to such facilities outside of the state except as a choice.
It is well to remember that even as the period of the games was short it was rewarding to the extent that tourism sites in the state recorded great patronage and the economy had a shot in the arm. Curiously, while the games lasted no business activity suffered disruption as was the traffic situation.
But the greatest gain of the tournament was the confirmation of the state as one of the safest states in Nigeria. It put a lie to claims in some quarters that though armed robbery and abduction were drastically reduced, petty crimes like muggery and a penumbra of other crimes were on the increase.
Apart from the confirmation of the security in the state by the police authority, there was no security breach. There was no theft, no abduction, no muggery, and no violence of any kind. It was such a peaceful event that even known sceptics could not, but applaud the good work.
That singular event bespoke of an Anambra on a steady road to great transformation.
Ejike Anyaduba wrote in from Abatete, Anambra State
