Penultimate Wednesday, the National Sports Commission (NSC), like the phoenix, rose from the ashes of the Sports Ministry. Created by the Gowon administration in the early 70s, the NSC, pioneered by arguably one of the best sports technocrats to come out of Nigeria, Isaac Akioye, as its Director-General, was a success story in its first decade.
There was one interesting drama that preceded the appointment of Akioye that I should recall. Three candidates were interviewed for the position, namely Isaac Akioye, Jerry Enyeazu and Dan Enajekpo. At the end of the exercise, Akioye beat them all to the position. Not wanting to hurt the other two applicants, it was decided that they should be made assistant Directors-General in the commission. But Akioye kicked against the idea. His argument was that by making his challengers his assistants, there was no guarantee that they would not work at cross purposes with him. Akioye’s superior argument prevailed in the end. Enyeazu and Enajekpo were dropped. Akioye hit the ground sprinting without having to look over his shoulders for any acts of sabotage by his challengers.
Akioye laid a solid foundation for the commission. He introduced enduring development programmes such as the Biennial National Sports Festival (NSF) featuring U-13, Intermediate and Senior Categories. The NSF was structured to accommodate all tiers of government, beginning from the local government areas where athletes competed and athletes picked to compete at the state level. It was at the state festivals that athletes were picked for the NSF across the three categories. The three layers enduring until the turn of the 80s when age-falsification, especially at the junior level, began to creep into the fiesta. Eventually, the U-13 and Intermediate categories were phased out.
The ultimate objective of the NSF was to unearth talents in the grassroots across the states. As time rolled by, the main aim was jettisoned because sports council officials placed emphasis on winning medals as a yardstick(s) for promotions. Worse still, established athletes were poached to represent states in order to win laurels, and dumped afterwards. That phenomenon sounded the death knell of our sports development. Today, elite athletes are found jostling for medals with local athletes at the NSF. This is one cross the new NSC boss, Shehu Dikko, has to bear. He must return sanity to the NSF. There are no two ways about it if Nigerian sports must develop.
Another cross he must bear is the resuscitation of school sports. Most of our schools – primary and post-primary – have relegated sports to the background. It is a sad situation to see that most of these schools cannot boast of sporting facilities. The private ones are notorious in this regard. Such schools are operated in residential houses or makeshift structures which are not even conducive for teaching and learning, let alone carry sports along. The NSC should liaise with the Ministry of Education to address this ugly situation.
On the national scale, the infrastructure, the sine qua non for sports development, is nothing to write home about. The 60,000-capacity Sports City at Surulere, Lagos, built to host the 2nd All-Africa Games in 1972 has degenerated from a monument of pride to a monument of shame. Successive ministers of sports came up with all manner of remedies to restore its lost glory. But everything has come to zilch. The magnificent M.K.O. Abiola Stadium Complex, Abuja, also built to host the 8th All-Africa Games in 2003 by the Obasanjo administration, suffered similar desuetude for many years before it was redeemed. But then the facilities are underutilised, ill-maintained and insecure leaving them at the mercy of vandals. It beggars belief that international matches involving our football teams across at all levels have to be ferried to venues like the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo. Dikko must do something about the Sports City. It can not be wished away. Its deplorable state speaks volumes about our poor maintenance culture.
Perhaps, one of the factors responsible for the sorry state of our sports facilities had been the high turnover of sports ministers, giving rise to policy somersaults. For instance, since the return of democratic governance about 25 years ago, no fewer than 12 ministers had run the affairs of the ministry before it was recently scrapped by the Tinubu administration. Each of them had different leadership and policy implementation styles. Then, there was the internal wrangling, clash of interests as well as endemic corruption. These factors were also capable of slowing down sports development.
The new NSC boss has promised to do something about the sorry states of the federal government sports facilities located in different parts of the country and make them more attractive and viable. I want to believe him given his pedigree and antecedents.
Needless to emphasise to the new helmsman that sports are a powerful tool to strengthen social ties and network, and to promote the ideals of peace, fraternity, solidarity, non-violence, tolerance and justice. Sports have gone beyond platforms for mere pastime. It is a universal language that brings people together across boundaries, cultures and religions. Its intrinsic values such as teamwork, fairness, discipline, respect for the opponents and the rules of the game are understood all over the world and can be harnessed in the advancement of solidarity, social cohesion and peaceful co-existence.
The imperative of sports for socio-economic development and peace building cannot be over-emphasised. In recent years, sports have contributed immensely to bridging the political, tribal and religious divides among Nigerians. Nothing else unites Nigeria than sports. It is in sports that Nigerians set aside their differences to champion a common cause. In sports, such mundane considerations like quota system patter into insignificance in choosing representations for the country in international championships. Capabilities take precedence over other pettiness in the choice of players and team handlers.
However, sports have not had a fair deal in recent years. Aside from football, other sports have not received the needed attention. This state of affairs is not helpful for development generally. Considering the fact that more than 60 per cent of the nation’s population are made up of youths, opportunity for sports should not be limited to football alone.
All eyes will be on Shehu Dikko since he is coming from a football background that we all know. He must be seen as the father of all sports and not football alone. He should work closely with sporting federations and encourage them to conduct regular programmes in conjunction with their state counterparts at the grassroots with the aim of unearthing local talents.
Nigerians are extremely passionate about sports they participate in or support. Dikko should come up with policies that will encourage them by ensuring that our facilities are functional for them to hone their skills and discover their talents.
Dikko is also persuaded to push for the establishment of a Sports Trust Fund to drive the nation’s sports at different levels. This is long overdue. I have been in the vanguard of this call following our disastrous outing at the London 2012 Olympic Games… that is over a decade ago now. Have I been drumming for the deaf to dance? It is quite obvious that government cannot run sports alone without support from the private sector.
The reason why our sports have stagnated, leading to poor results recorded at international competitions, is lack of political will by government to fund sports comprehensively, as exemplified by the neglect suffered by the nation’s flagship competition, the NSF, some years back which almost consigned it to the dustbin of history. After Eko 2012, the festival became orphaned because Akwa Ibom, billed to host the 2014 edition, backed out until the federal government singlehandedly hosted the 18th edition after about six years of lull. Thereafter, the states woke up from their slumber.
Be that as it may, the NSC should tap into the abundant human resources that sports offer by engaging our teeming youths productively. The number of Nigerian footballers and athletes plying their trades overseas is nothing compared to those at home desiring to showcase their God-given talents that could also open doors for them.
Sports, no doubt, can provide a route to escape poverty, joblessness, criminal tendencies such as kidnapping, armed robbery and allied crimes which most of the youths are engaged in as a means of survival. As a guru in football marketing, Dikko is expected to bring his expertise to bear on other sports in the coming years. It is hoped that Dikko will get all the needed support and encouragement from the government to enable him grow into the shoes of the likes of Akioye and his successor, Babayo Shehu, who are remembered ever and anon for their stellar performances at the commission in their times.
