When we cringe that Nigeria is a sporting nation, serious-minded countries laugh. Whereas others start their plans from the scratch, we rely on finished products from our jaded competitions with falsified ages. What we bank on from these competitions can’t stand the test of time. They are fickle and fall away like nectar on hibiscus.
Our sports will crawl for as long as we cast an indulgent eye on instituting a solid foundation for the industry. Sports cannot grow without integrated programmes anchored on Schools Sports, which is domiciled with the 36 states’ ministries of Sports and that of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja. The catchment area for sports are the schools in the 774 local government areas. Sports is also the vehicle for mass mobilisation of the citizenry. Besides, its role in taking the youth off the streets is invaluable.
A country in which schools lack playgrounds is certainly not ready. Only a few schools have playgrounds with facilities and trainers. Everywhere is built up – in a desperate quest to ensure that everyone goes to school. Nothing wrong with that, but sports should be considered when development takes place. Sports is a money spinner, the best platform for massive employment, considering the immense followership each game enjoys.
States aren’t perturbed that Schools Sports competitions, including those named after governors, are moribund. It is ironic that governors, their deputies and executive council members are seen around golf courses and polo grounds, whereas all competitions which in the past served as nurseries to discover kids are dead. Golf and Polo are elitists, very costly to run, their equipment beyond the reach of the common man.
In the past, schools sports competitions were handled by the Education ministries. States’ Sports Councils and their affiliate sports federations prepared athletes for national competitions. Sports died in the states when sports commissioners and their education counterparts started working at cross purposes. The problem was who to applaud when state contingents excelled in competitions. With time, the units which handled sports at the ministry of education were integrated into other spheres of the ministry. They got choked.
The first spiral effect of this dastardly decision was the dearth of Colleges of Education for Sports, Teachers Training Colleges etc, where coaches were trained and retrained. Coaches attended such colleges to acquire knowledge and new tricks in their games. Without coaches and trainers supervised by Ministry of Sports chieftains, sports gradually nose-dived into extinction.
We cannot talk about corporate sponsorship of sports when we don’t have products to market to the business community. Most states’ sports councils’ headquarters are derelict. The workers only remember that they earn a living from sports when major competitions are holding – if the governor is interested in such ‘play play’, as one governor once described sports. The governor argued that the cash spent on sports could be channeled into infrastructure, such as roads and salaries. Incredible.
I reminded the governor that the citizens of the state needed the government to provide recreational facilities for them. I educated him further that sports is pre-requisite for reducing the damaging effects of some health hazards just as it is the best vehicle for the mobilisation of the people, not forgetting that it takes the youth off the streets and crime. His Excellency asked me to do a paper on what I said. I moved on, knowing that nothing will change. I was right. The governor’s eight years brought no succour for the troubled sector.
Sportsmen and women are among the highest paid professionals. Serena Williams, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tiger Woods, Lewis Hamilton, Usain Bolt et al are some of the big earners. They achieved this feat because they were exposed to sports as kids. In fact, Serena’s dad groomed his daughters for stardom. No one is shocked by the phenomenal achievements of the Williams’ sisters -Venus and Serena.
For any commodity to have value, it must have a price. You ask, how much is any sport worth in Nigeria? Keep guessing. A company will place its goods or services on sports if there is massive followership, since the firm needs to reach as many consumers as possible. Firms key into sports to enhance their corporate image and clientele, which they won’t want to tarnish on the altar of sports sponsorship. This is why they seldom support Nigeria sports because most sports federations have not cultivated the culture of accountability.
Food and beverages firms as well as other sponsors see in the fans who throng the venues a window to market their goods and services.
In the past, Nigerians watched live broadcast of important sports competitions, such as the All Africa Games (now African Games), Olympics, World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Africa Cup of Nations etc). Parents and kids sat through games. Parents encouraged their loved ones to participate in such sports that they follow because of what they saw on television. In fact, the fascinating story of how Serena and Venus emerged from the tutelage of their father encouraged some parents to mentor theirs, having seen the Williams’ experience.
The flipside is that the corporate world also watches games in their offices. This makes it easy to persuade them to support sports, having seen the massive followership, who could be converted to customers or consumers of their goods. The job is done if policy makers in the blue-chip companies love sports or have siblings who are desirous of earning a living from sports.
Sadly, the 2019 African Games holding in Morocco isn’t on television. There isn’t any recap of the days’ programmes on television at night, like it was done in the past, for Nigerians to know their sports heroes and heroines.
If sports must enjoy the fillip of growth from the corporate world, it must be repackaged like entertainment. In the 1970s and 1980s, foreign stars thrilled Nigerian fans. That has changed, with the massive work of our musicians and actors. One feels good as foreigners call Nigerians wearing our traditional dresses Igwe, Igwe – fallout of what they see from interesting drama stories on television. It is also exciting sitting inside cabs in Europe, listening to Nigerian artists’ songs on radio and foreigners dancing to it the way we do here.
It isn’t surprising to see entertainment enjoy tremendous corporate sponsorship since governors, business moguls, banking giants and oil industry chieftains attend entertainment shows.Of course, nobody convinces them on the need to do business with the entertainers, having physically seen the crowds at concerts here and in Europe.
I’m excited Sports Minister Sunday Akin Dare inspected the derelict facilities. Dare’s comments show that he knows what to do. What Dare should do, aside these visits, is to convince President Muhammadu Buhari to make sports’ funding a four-yearly cycle, since most competitions are biannual and after every four years. The yearly fiscal budgets run here won’t do sports any good just as the Treasury Singular Account (TSA).
It is shameful to read stories of associations’ helmsmen lending the government money for our athletes to attend competitions in which winners will represent us at bigger tournaments, such as the Olympics. Dare should endeavour to persuade the leadership of the National Assembly to institutionalise the NFF Bill and the National Sports Commission (NSC) Bill, which many believe will revolutionalise sports.
No corporate body will give cash to any sports federation, knowing that it is driven by the government. Companies are reluctant to do business with sports because of policy summersaults, but with the promulgation of the NSC Bill and the NFF Bill, companies will be willing to do good business, since both bodies can sue and be sued in the event of breaches.
