– Abeokuta Aflame: From Asa’s Soulful Serenade to Davido’s Electrifying Pulse, Abeokuta Becomes Heartbeat of a Nation Reborn
Sunday, May 18, 2025, Abeokuta, Ogun State’s capital city pulsed with an unusual kind of theatre. Golden trumpets blared in the air as the sun kissed gently Abeokuta’s hilly expanse. A new chapter unfurled beneath the vast Nigerian sky as the air shimmered with song and flame. In that enchanted hour, Ogun kindled yet another Nigerian dream.
The 22nd National Sports Festival—christened the Gateway Games 2024—burst into life on Sunday with a spectacle that stitched music, motion, and meaning into a grand, unforgettable experience. With President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declaring the festival open through his envoy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and the soulful voices of ASA and Davido setting the MKO Abiola Sports Arena ablaze with rhythm, Ogun State reimagined patriotism as poetry. Through it all, Governor Dapo Abiodun stood tall as a host cum visionary, ushering Nigeria into a celebration of youth, talent, and unity that began, unmistakably, on a note both grand and glorious.
The city pulsed with unprecedented gaiety as athletes and sports enthusiasts converged in the Gateway State for the momentous event. As the lights bloomed and the trumpets blared, Governor Abiodun unfurled the 22nd National Sports Festival like a scroll of national prophecy, inviting all of Nigeria to read and immerse in its glad tidings.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, speaking for President Tinubu, related his vision: “Sport has placed Nigeria on the global map for decades. It remains one of the most powerful forces for national cohesion… It reminds us that we are not strangers, but compatriots drawn from different roots, drinking from the same well of national pride.”
The president’s voice, echoing through the vice president’s cadence, carried the solemnity of truth and the optimism of a statesman. In a country too often divided by tongue and tribe, sport remains the last undivided altar. The National Sports Festival, like a sacred flame, drew athletes from the corners of Nigeria’s sprawling geography—36 states and the FCT—under one sky, one anthem, one heartbeat.
In the firm, measured words of Governor Dapo Abiodun was a quiet poetry of purpose, patience, and promise. Hosting this edition of the NSF was no happenstance; it was an act of deliberate conviction. “This festival is more than a sporting event,” he declared. “It is a celebration of unity and resilience, a platform to build a stronger Nigeria.”
To hear those words was to glimpse the ethos of Ogun State’s stewardship: a leadership that sees beyond politics and power, and into the soul of the nation. In Abiodun’s Gateway State, sport is not a pastime; it is a blueprint. Youth empowerment, social cohesion, economic vitality – these are not abstracts. They are embedded in the roar of the crowd, the swing of a racquet, the flash of a baton exchanged in perfect synchrony. Under his leadership, Ogun did not merely host a tournament; it mothered a movement.
The “Gateway Games 2024,” as this edition was called, stood as a vivid metaphor—Ogun the gateway, sport the passage, and unity the destination. From the soulful ballads of Asa to the electric swagger of Davido, from the youthful fire of the athletes to the enduring vision of leaders past and present, the National Sports Festival resonated like healing balm, a sports fiesta heralding a new dawn.
When Asa, that daughter of Nigerian soul, stepped into the spotlight, her voice slicing through the evening air like silk. Every note she sang stitched the hearts in the stadium a little closer. It was artistry beyond sound, it was ritual. Then came Davido, the prince of Afrobeats, who turned the turf into a tempest of movement. Children screamed, elders clapped, and the whole arena became a temple of rhythm.
Together, their performances did what speeches could not: they reminded a fractured country of its shared pulse. Music became muscle. Melody became memory. It was not just entertainment, it was enchantment.
This edition of the NSF was no doubt a renaissance. Alhaji Shehu Dikko, Chairman of the newly reinstated National Sports Commission, heralded reforms that bore the fingerprints of President Tinubu’s strategic vision. The Ministry of Sports has now metamorphosed into a standalone National Sports Commission—leaner, sharper, purpose-built.
With it came one of the festival’s most revolutionary turns: The Invited Junior Athletes (IJA) initiative. Over 200 young athletes—fresh limbs, fierce dreams—were welcomed into the pantheon of competition. It was the future sprinting beside the present. And what a sight it was. Every jump, every throw, every dash from these juniors was an investment in Nigeria’s destiny.
Said Dikko, “This lays a foundation for sustainable growth and long-overdue professionalism in our sporting industry.” In essence, the NSF was no longer a ceremonial gathering—it had become an incubator.
To speak of Ogun State merely as a venue is to misunderstand its role. It was not just the stage; it was the soul. Abeokuta, that ancient city etched into rocky escarpments, opened its arms like a prophet welcoming pilgrims. The MKO Abiola Sports Arena pulsed like a living heart, its stands full, its grounds electric, its aura unforgettable.
Everything about Ogun’s hosting bore the elegance of intention. Logistics flowed. Security held. Hospitality shone. Visitors became family. Athletes became ambassadors. Even the wind seemed to understand it was part of history.
Governor Abiodun’s administration treated the festival not as a footnote but as a frontispiece. The infrastructure gleamed. The planning was near flawless. But more importantly, the people of Ogun showed a generosity of spirit that left no one in doubt: this was home. And even though the National Sports Festival is often dubbed Nigeria’s “Mini-Olympics,” but in this edition, the prefix felt unnecessary. Nothing about it was mini. Not the grandeur. Not the goals. Not the gathering.
With participation from across the federation, it was a pageant of possibilities. Sprinters who may one day grace Paris. Weightlifters who may climb global podiums. Gymnasts who defy gravity and limitations alike. This isn’t merely sport, it’s overeignty expressed in motion. At the ongoing sports fiesta, more than medals will be exchanged; dreams will be kindled. Friendships forged. Unity deepened. And somewhere between the whistle and the finish line, Nigeria will find her breath again.
Of course, it may seem indulgent to celebrate a sports festival amid so much economic hardship, but that’s only if one misjudges the power of shared joy. The National Sports Festival, especially this 22nd edition, was not a distraction, it was a declaration. It said: We are still here. We still believe. We still run, leap, dance, and dream.
Governor Abiodun’s Ogun in hosting a grand sports fiesta, reminds the nation that amidst policy and politics, it is passion that ultimately prevails. His leadership did not just execute an event, it evoked a feeling, one that may ripple far beyond the closing ceremony.
In the annals of Nigeria’s becoming, this sporting chapter in Ogun shall be written in gold. And may we never forget: in the hill-wrapped heart of the Gateway State, sport called, and a nation answered.
