Nigeria, May 21 -- Even before Vice President Kashim Shettima, standing in for President Bola Tinubu, declared the largest edition of the National Sports Festival (NSF) in the last 52-years open, it was already clear that the Opening Ceremony was going to be out of this world. The MKO Abiola Sports Complex, venue of the ceremony, surged with crowds as drummers, dancers, choreographers and athletes gave a performance that dwarfed anything ever produced anywhere in Africa. For more than four hours, the MKO complex witnessed pure joy. The opening ceremony of the Gateway Games 2024 left everyone, including the 10,000 or more spectators, completely spell-bound as stagecraft met artistry, and drum, song and poetry stretched athletics to elastic...