Though competitions were scheduled at venues throughout the host state of Ogun, the showcase opening and closing ceremonies were reserved for the newly renovated MKO Abiola Stadium in Abeokuta, the state's capital city. The venerable soccer stadium had been upgraded with a new running track and electronic scoreboard prior to the games, but the aging permanent PA system remained in place - a system hardly up to the task of delivering speech intelligibility to the expected throngs of 30,000-plus, and certainly lacking the power required for the high-energy musical program.
In response, the Local Organizing Committee for the ceremonies published a solicitation for a temporary concert-quality system, and received bids from sound hire companies as distant as South Africa and Europe. One of the few domestic suppliers able to meet the requirements was GQ Acoustics + Sound (GQAS) of Lagos, recently appointed as the regional distributor for Meyer Sound. After the proposals were considered, GQAS received the final nod to supply a system based around 20 MICA compact high-power curvilinear array cabinets.
"We had received our first shipment of 12 MICAs just in time to give our demo for the organizing committee," recalls Peter Iriah, GQAS's managing director. "When they heard the MICA system, they were convinced on the spot."
Working on a tight time frame, Iriah's immediate concern was procuring the balance of the system needed for the ceremonies. Nigeria's complicated rules on transfers of funds were delaying the process until, according to Iriah, Mike Cooper, Meyer Sound's sales manager for Asia and Africa, stepped in and resolved the issue. The remaining eight MICAs were soon shipped to Lagos, along with a complement of eight 700-HP ultrahigh-power subwoofers. Also included was a Galileo loudspeaker management system, the first used in Africa.
In consultation with the Meyer Sound factory in California, Iriah used the MAPP Online Pro acoustical prediction program to design his array configurations. As finally deployed, the dual 10-high MICA arrays were split into three zones: five cabinets for the long throw (more than 110 metres), three for the mid-field and two for downfill. Four MSL-4 horn-loaded long-throw loudspeakers provided fill coverage beside and behind the arrays, and four additional MSL-4 cabinets were deployed to supply program audio for images on a giant video screen in an overflow area behind the stadium.
The 10-hour program was mixed by Naymann Bassey, an experienced freelancer who recently became a partner in GQAS. "It was indeed a fulfilling experience," he comments, "as the system lays the bulk of sound management stress to rest!" Bassey was particularly gratified when approached afterwards by an industry comrade from one of Nigeria's leading multimedia production houses. "He told me we had come in with a bang - and that was what it was: a big bang!"
Although the speeches by government officials may have demanded less power than the musical fare, intelligibility was critical. In addition to Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, the federal Minister of Sport and the governor of Ogun state took the podium for opening remarks. "From what I've been told, intelligibility was excellent throughout the stadium," states Peter Iriah. "In fact, we are being praised by the organizers for having the best sound in the history of the games, and the governor even sent a personal note to co
