Welcome to the year 2013 as we all look forward for a prosperous year it is my prayer that we will also enjoy sport in a new way. The stage is getting set for sport activities to commence in the New Year and I cannot but begin to look at the structures that we intend to build for the rest of the year. While I do not wish that we spend this year again doing the same thing over and over I hope and pray that the managers of our sport will be able to identify and set realistic targets that will take this sector into the next level.
It is on this note that I will want to set the tune for a reformed sector as a panacea for sport revolution in Nigeria. We need to have a system that is well defined, well recognized by the law of the Land, well managed, a trusted system and above all a system that is sincere. All these are expected qualities of the new Nigeria Sport System as we move into the year I will attempt to critically examine the fundamental indices that will predict the effective management of sport in Nigeria.
It is also my expectation that the Nigeria Premier League is giving a new life by this I mean we need to see that whatever is been done in the Premier League is in line with International best practices as I will also at a point give my sincere analysis on the state of the Nigeria Premier League. I hope above all that the Nigeria Football Referees will be protected by match organizers because I have heard overtime that the reason why most referees don’t give their best is as a result of insecurity at match venues with time I will speak about the Nigeria Referee’s.
Let me quickly also mention the need for the Federal Government to move swiftly in saving the sport sector. It is expected that the Government will ensure the smooth passage of the NSC Bill as well as the proposed NFF Bill to enable these institutions function without the unnecessary hindrances as may be presented by their status before the law. This should be taken very seriously by the Federal Government as it will go a long way towards ensuring that our sport is taken to the next level.
State and local Governments have to now wake up to their responsibility in seeing sport as the needful but I am still very surprise that most states without befitting sport stadiums failed to capture the construction of such in their 2013 budgets and for me this is an act of great injustice to the thousands of Youths from such states who are very much interested in becoming world class athletes but are hindered as a result of lack of training facilities or where it is available it is obsolete
The National Sports Commission should endeavor to activate all necessary inter- ministerial relations that exists between it and the Federal Ministry of Education as well as all tertiary institution regulatory agencies to enable them work out the modalities of rejuvenating the sporting culture of all our schools and tertiary institutions. Also, schools without sport field or facilities should be mandated to enter into an agreement with owners of sport facilities nearest to them for the use of their students.
Sport Academies is not currently been regulated in this country and I am very sure that the various sport regulators if asked may not be able to tell us the number of accredited sport academies in Nigeria and their location. Whereas this is an integral part in the holistic development of sport talents across the country and must be taken seriously hence I wish to remind these sport regulators on the need to develop a comprehensive criteria for the accreditation of sport academies in Nigeria
The business of sport must also be taken very seriously as it has the capability of creating significant employment to all and this is very key because with the right policies in place and the needed government support, the business of sport which is universal in nature can attract more direct foreign investors interest into Nigeria than can be imagined. Hence, Government need to critically look at the sporting sector as a viable economic sector that needs to be invested in as well as work out a clear model that will see to the eventual takeoff of the sector thus help creating sufficient economic revolution in the sporting sector.
The aspect of human capacity development must also be addressed because we need professionals to be engaged to stimulate the rejuvenation of the sector by the introduction of creative ideas that will help reposition the sector for possible takeoff. The current man power need to also improve on their available skills it should be noted that sport is dynamic and as such requires a lot of dynamic human capacity to be able to meet with the contemporary challenges of the time hence as we gradually move into the year, it is desirous that sport managers endeavor to engage themselves in capacity development to be able to deliver as may be required.
Politics and Sports is a very interesting topic you may say but if not properly and well managed has the capacity to derail the focus of sport development in the Nation. We are of course political animals as humans but that should not be a license for us to engage in unhealthy political maneuvering that can destroy the very fabric of our Nations’ sport polity. Welcome once more to 2013.
