The Cross River State Commissioner for Sport Mr. Patrick Ukpe has said that the state never arrived in Lagos with the illusion of winning the 18th National Sports Festival.
The official, who led the state delegation to the event which ended in Lagos on Sunday, said that they were rather counting on dominating sports in Nigeria in few years.
He said, "We never had the illusion that we would win the competition in Lagos but we are satisfied by how far we were able to come with this competition. Last time (Rivers 2011) we finished 7th and won only seven gold medals but by Saturday morning we already had eight gold, 12 silver and 18 bronze medals."
Cross River left the competition with 12 gold, 14 silver and 23 bronze medals.
He said, "We're not bothered because we have surpassed what we achieved last time and our development programme is working out very well. We have a programme and that has given us about the youngest team in the entire competition. For instance the pole vault champion is in secondary school.
"Last year Cross Rivers won the school sports and the athletes in that event were all products of our developmental programme. From the result we have received from these competitions we are satisfied that the programme we started just three years ago is yielding quality results. And this is why we believe that we can become very dominant in the next four years or thereabout. It is not about winning but about truly developing the athletes and the sports."
The state was handed the baton for the 2014 event at the closing ceremony on Sunday and the commissioner assured that they would not be caught napping with providing quality facilities.
"We already have the Local Organising Committee working. The major driving force has been having a governor (Senator Liyel Imoke) who is very passionate about sports and truly have quality ideas on how best to develop the sector. The next sports festival will surely be one to remember," he said.
