Asaba, Nigeria: the dividends of an African Senior Athletics Championship. A governor waxes in the afterglow of success

Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, whose capital is Asaba, has every reason to feel satisfied. The city on the River Niger was not the first choice to host the just concluded African Senior Athletics Championships.

Obviously, Lagos couldn’t do it, and sadly so-its two stadia are in complete disrepair. Abuja couldn’t do it. Its spanking new stadium suffers from acute neglect. 

Governor Okowa pushed for Asaba to do it, and succeeded. That success boosted his popularity immensely and his chances of re-election as governor next year.

First, he publicly completed the impressive Stephen Keshi Stadium, named after the late football coach, who in Brazil took the Super Eagles to the quarter finals, the farthest they ever got in a World Cup tourney.

There were of-course hitches – the most serious transit delays for incoming athletes in faraway Lagos. When that happened,Governor Okowa sent charter planes to bring in the arriving international athletes.

The Asaba contest recorded the largest number of performing athletes, 800 of them from 52 countries. The locals supported their Governor by always filling up the capacity stadium. And city hotels did good business from sports tourism.

Nigeria did not win the most medals. That honour went to Kenya.

However, as Brazil and Russia proved, the next best thing to winning the most medals is a successful hosting.