President Goodluck Jonathan said on Monday that his administration was committed to Nigeria becoming the best sporting nation in Africa, top four in the Commonwealth and ultimately rule the world.
Jonathan spoke at the opening of a Presidential Sports Sector Retreat held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the vision was realistic and achievable with hard work, greater sense of purpose and dedication.
The president noted the importance of sports as a source of joy to people, a unifying and mobilising factor and a source of revenue generation.
He charged participants at the retreat to brainstorm and strategise on how to reclaim the country’s past sporting glory.
“There is no gain saying that apart from its obvious benefits in bringing joy to our citizens, especially when our teams do well, no other sector of our national life has a greater force for mobilising and uniting our people around a common purpose, than sports.
“I remember vividly as a vice-president when we were to host one team that did well and the Chief of Staff then, Gen. Abdullahi, was emphasising that we must receive these people very well because it only sports and especially when we are winning that Muslims and Christians don’t know the difference between themselves.
“They sing the same songs, dance the same steps and we must encourage sporting activities in this country,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the president as saying at the forum.
He said the country could not overlook the relevance of sports to national development and well being.
He described sports as a viable socio-economic tool for youth development, nation building and for instilling core value of social justice
Jonathan recalled the superlative performance of Nigerian athletes at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics in particular the performances of Chioma Ajunwa who won the first Gold medal for Nigeria and the Dream Team led by Kanu Nwankwo.
He noted, however, that the successes recorded had been waning over the years and that there was the need to retrace Nigeria’s sporting steps.
“This retreat is timely, given the recent disappointing performance of Team Nigeria at the 2012 Olympics in London and our recent lows in football competitions among others.
“This unacceptable trend points to systemic failures that urgently call for a drastic and holistic review of our sports policies,’’ President Jonathan said.
He noted that the retreat was not designed to apportion blames or point accusing fingers, but to find solutions and design a framework for achieving national sporting excellence.
He tasked states governors to identify potentials where they have comparative advantages in sporting event for development.
The president also called on the private sector to devise means of supporting sporting activities.
