Here comes best ever festival

        Reports emanating from the secretariat of the Local Organisingf Committee for the festival tagged "Abuja 2004",indicate that Saturday's grand opening ceremony at the Auja National Stadium will be heralded in pomp and pageantry in conformity with the organisers' aim of staging the best festival ever.

        President Obasanjo who is making a return to the stadium seven months after curtains were drawn on the Abuja 2003 All Africa Games will be accompanied to the arena by the Vice-President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,including other top government officials,the Minister of Sports,state governors and other dignitaries.

        The opening ceremony scheduled to begin at 7pm local time will effectively flag off the festival which was last held in Benin City,the Edo State capital.

        Already not less than 34 states have arrived in Abuja with their contingents,with all athletes and officials accommodatwed at the multi-billion naira Games Villagebuilt purposely for the All Africa Games.

        Chairman of the Abuja 2004 Media Sub-Committee Alhaji Ibrahm Biu told nigeriasports.com Fiday that all is now set for the opening ceremony as the President have agreed to be at the occasion.

         "The festival opens tomorrow,and we have received positive indicatiions from the Villa that Mr. Presiodent will be there to declsare it open,"he says."So far all the various sub-committees have been  doing their best to make this festival a hitch-free one.

          "Virtually all the states have arrived,we are only witing for about two of them and these are Jigawa and Zamfara.They have also indicated that they would be here this afternoon[Friday].It's going to be a full house including the FCT,the host city".

           Biu further disclosed that the initial problem of funding is gradually becoming a thing of the past as arrangements have been made to ensure needs are promptly attended to.

           The National Sports Festival is the hunting ground for frteshn talents by sports authorities in Nigeria.Athletes discovered at the biennial event are subsequently nurtured to stardom and compete at major international competitions where they go on to win honours for the country.