The eighth edition of the Government College Ughelli (GCU) Relays has been scheduled for Saturday, November 14, 2026, as organisers intensify preparations for another exciting inter-school athletics meeting.
The date was confirmed by the President General Worldwide of the Government College Ughelli Old Boys Association (GCUOBA), HRM Albert Akpomudje, SAN, during the association’s recent National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.
The meeting also approved other major activities of the association, including its Annual Dinner scheduled for Benin City in October and the Lagos Luncheon in December.
The 2026 GCU Relays will retain the traditional second-Saturday-of-November calendar adopted for the competition.
The event will be held shortly after the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, scheduled for November 6–10, where the new helmsman of the GCU Relays, Omatseye Nesiama, will serve as one of the Technical Directors.
Nesiama, a former Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), will assume full responsibility for the technical direction of the eighth edition of the annual inter-school collegiate athletics meeting.
The experienced sports administrator, who also chairs the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) Technical and Development Commission, is expected to work closely with the Delta State Sports Commission, which will provide the electronic timing system, and the Nigerian Association of Athletics Technical Officials (NAATO).
The organisers said the collaboration is aimed at delivering a highly efficient and hitch-free competition.
Now in its ninth year, with one edition lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, the GCU Relays has become an important platform for reviving the historic rivalry among secondary schools in athletics.
More than 30 schools and approximately 500 student-athletes are expected to participate in the 2026 edition.
The athletes will compete on the tartan track at Government College Ughelli, which was built and donated to the school through the NNPC-Shell joint venture.
The organisers said the competition continues to provide young athletes with an opportunity to showcase their talents while keeping alive the rich athletics tradition associated with old secondary schools in Nigeria.