All arrangements have been concluded to receive the Queen’s Baton Relay team, which will arrive Nigeria from Ghana on Monday, the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Gbenga Elegbeleye has said.
He stated that arrangements had been made with the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Police and other security agencies to ensure smooth passage and parade of the Baton in Abuja.
Elegbeleye made these disclosures yesterday at a press briefing where he disclosed that the Queen’s Baton Relay was launched at the Buckingham Palace, at a ceremony where are Her Majesty, The Queen placed her message to the Commonwealth in the baton.
The Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay is the curtain raiser to the XX (20th) Commonwealth Games. Over a period of 288 days, the baton will visit 70 nations and territories, covering about 190,000 kilometers and involving a third of the world’s population, making it the world’s most engaging relay.
The Queen’s Baton will arrive Nigeria was Ghana where it was paraded in Accra and Kumasi. According to the Itinerary released by the organizing Committee, the Director General National Sports Commission Elegbeleye will receive the Baton in company of diplomats from Commonwealth countries accredited to Nigeria.
Thereafter the Motorcade will proceed to the Presidential Villa where the Baton will be handed to the Minister/Chairman, National Sports Commission, Bolaji Abdullahi who will then present the Baton to the President Goodluck Jonathan.
The event is expected to climax at State House with remarks from the President after which he will hand it over to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT for a procession through the Federal Capital Territory.