The Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, on Saturday assured that the Edo Government was capable of preventing any outbreak of coronavirus during the 20th National Sports Festival (NSF).
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Dare told journalists in Benin, shortly after the festival’s Local Organising Committee (LOC) briefed journalists on their level of readiness, that the state government had put in place necessary measures.
“The state government has put in place the necessary surveillance and processes at strategic places to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19.
“The state has a functional system that will sustain the festival from the commencement to closing.
“I have been to the Games Village and what I have seen so far is quite impressive,” the minister said.
He said Edo had now raised the bar for the festival through the provision of standard facilities and robust private public partnership.
“The standard of the festival is now higher than that of the one held in Abuja in 2018, especially in the transformation of the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.
“We have also seen the level of synergy that has existed between the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports, the state government and the private sector.”
The minister disclosed that the Federal Government spent about N2.3 billion in hosting the festival in Abuja while it was spending less than N1 billion on Edo 2020.
“For Edo, we have seen the public private partnership working and this is another model we intend to promote in subsequent festivals.”