President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the immediate suspension of the 20th edition of the National Sports Festival (NSF) in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
He said with over 11,000 people expected for the festival, it was better to err on the side of caution than to risk massive public exposure to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the games.
The Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Sunday Dare, made the announcement after he and the Minister for State Health, Olorunibe Mamora, briefed the President.
Daily Sun gathered that the ministry will need 20 body scanners to search all 11,000 people expected at the festival of which none are on the ground.
Meanwhile, the government is also considering the suspension of religious gatherings and flights from high-risk countries.
The Ministers of Sports, making an extensive statement on the matter, said:
“Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Ministry of Youths and Sports Development because of the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival, has been in close touch and consultation with the ministry of health – particularly with both the minister of health and the minister of state, health. We’ve also been in consultation with the governor and deputy governor of Edo State, the Local Organising Committee (LOC), and the Ministry Organising Committee (MOC) but we have had the ministry of health take the lead.
“Based on the daily review on development, we got assurances that we could go ahead. But because we are dealing with a dynamic situation, this morning, we had a meeting at the ministry of health in the office of the minister of health with the minister of state, health present, myself, the permanent secretary and the Director-General of National Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
“Shortly after the meeting which lasted for about 45 minutes, we proceeded to the presidency to brief Mr President. After briefing Mr President, Mr Presdent took the initiative and gave the directive that the National Sports Festival, christened Edo 2020 should be postponed as a precautionary measure against the press of COVID-19. A new date will be communicated late based on development around COVID-19.”
