The Great Ife 2024 Sports Festival kicked off on Monday 27th of May, at the Sports Complex of the Obafemi Awolowo University. The opening ceremony had in attendance the presence of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Simeon Bamire, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) Prof. Yomi Daramola amongst other principal officers of the University
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The ceremony commenced with the Faculties March Past and Parade which was marred by a heavy downpour. After the downpour, a set of Judo players came to perform before the official kick-off of the opening match which was done by the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Simeon Bamire.
Opening Ceremony Match Abruptly Suspended Over Darkness
The opening match for the OAU inter-faculty competition of the festival between the Faculty of Technology and Faculty of Administration which began few minutes past 6 pm came to an abrupt end few minutes past 7 pm due to a blackout on the football pitch, making students who had come to watch the match disperse home disappointed.
The suspension of the match came minutes after the Faculty of Administration equalized, a few minutes into the commencement of the second half.
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Recall that in an earlier report by ACJOAU, the Sports Director of the Great Ife Students’ Union, Sumbade Junior, stated that the lights were switched off because they were of no use to them at the moment but would be switched on during the inter-faculty, when matches on the football pitch tilted towards the late night.
Although the stadium light at the right wing, close to the roadside, was briefly switched on after the judo presentation and was immediately switched off.
Speaking with a student, Mubarak, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the stadium lights not working. ‘It is an unfortunate situation we have gotten ourselves into in this country. Nothing is working. It is a shame still to have this kind of situation in this century, 2024’. ‘I think it was this year or last year they fixed them. The maintenance culture is very lacking’. He said.
Although a few minutes before the match was suspended, the only source of light that could be seen close to the pitch was coming from the photographer’s light, which was illuminating the darkness for the player controlling the ball close to the goalkeeper’s post.
As of press time, the suspended match is scheduled to resume at 1 pm on Tuesday, May 28th, for the teams to complete the remaining 28 minutes of the match.