Retired Commodore Omatseye Nesiama will oversee organisation and technical delivery at the eighth Government College Ughelli (GCU) Relays, with the meet set for November 14, 2026.
His Royal Majesty Albert Akpomudje (SAN), President General Worldwide of the Government College Ughelli Old Boys Association (GCUOBA), announced the date after the association’s National Executive Council meeting. The competition will retain its customary place on the second Saturday of November, while the council also endorsed GCUOBA’s annual dinner in Benin City in October and the Lagos Luncheon in December.
Nesiama brings extensive athletics and Olympic administration experience to the assignment. The former Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and one-time Chairman of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) Technical and Development Commission will take charge of the meet’s technical functions immediately after his work as a Technical Director at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, which run from October 31 to November 13.
For the track programme, the organising team will work with the Delta State Sports Commission, which is to provide the TimeTronics electronic timing system, and the Nigerian Association of Athletics Technical Officials (NAATO), responsible for coordinating operations on the track.
Over 500 student-athletes from more than 30 secondary schools are expected to compete at the GCU tartan-track venue, built by the NNPC-SHELL Joint Venture. Although the relays are entering their eighth edition, the event is in its ninth year because one staging was lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. The invitational competition has become a route for identifying emerging talent while rekindling long-standing inter-school rivalries in Nigerian secondary-school athletics.
