The Ministry of Youths and Sports has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) with a view to breaching the magnitude of the funding gap that has held back sports in the country.
Speaking at the signing in Lagos on Tuesday, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare said with the reality of government’s dwindling resources as a problem, it equally presents an opportunity for private sector participation and ownership of the business associated with sports.
He said, “It is an opportunity that is demanding attention in the face of shrinking resources. It demands a review of the current situation where government views and treats sports as a social service when in reality it is a multi-billion-naira industry”.
Speaking on the NESG, he said, “The NESG is an important stakeholder in the economic development of Nigeria. It is always providing strategic inputs to policy and helping to reshape the thinking in Government. It has also transformed itself into a formidable think-tank that no Government should ignore.”\
“We are happy to be associated with you. Your unique insight in identifying sports development in Nigeria as a major problem that requires business models as solution has played a key and defining role in bringing us to this epoch-making point in our sports development history”, he added.
He added that the Inter-Ministerial Technical Session on Sports Industry Development report noted that a ‘private sector driven sports industry would ensure the commitment to the required investment to deliver on the potentials of the sports industry to add value to the Nigerian economy, whilst also assisting the Government in its core objectives of social integration, economic empowerment and youth engagement.
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