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  • Uncommon transformation in Akwa Ibom sport

    Uncommon transformation in Akwa Ibom sport

    I have listened to the several political drums emanating from various parts of the country in praise of some governors that have spent eight  years and are currently vying for the Senate to be addressed as Distinguished Senators. I can’t but be provoked at the fact that some of these men had the opportunity to transform the fortune of their state through the instrumentality of sport as a tool for such change.

    While researches have shown that all stadiums in Nigeria are owned by government either at the state or federal level yet we still have some state governments that posterity will continue to judge for their inability to invest in sport related projects.

    From the West to the North and South to East of Nigeria we can see evidently those governors that have committed resources in the development of sport in their respective states. While there are other states that are totally out of the equation in terms of having a befitting stadium to be identified with, we some that have done very well in this regard.

    One begins to wonder what kind of people are appointed as sport commissioners in those states where stadiums are not built and those overseeing stadiums that are totally dilapidated. I make bold to say that any state in Nigeria irrespective of its meagre allocation from the Federal Government has got no right to deny its citizens from having a befitting stadium in the state.

    Although, I have not been opportuned to visit the new stadium in Akwa Ibom State but those who have been there relayed what they saw. A senior friend of mine told me that the stadium is not different from the Bird Nest stadium in China where Nigeria played the Olympic Final Match against Argentina in 2008 Beijing Olympics.

    The decision to appoint a state commissioner for sport I want to believe should be to ensure that sport as a sector is driven and developed in the state.But in a situation whereby Some sport commissioners are just portfolios to fill in the gap in the State Executive Council calls for a very serious concern to those of us who are ardent crusader for a change in the political space, especially in the appointment of sport commissioners in states.

    Any Commissioner of Sport that fails to attract investment into sport infrastructure development within the state is not fit to be so recognised. Sport should be a driving force in the development of any state if properly galvanized because it has a far reaching effect in the life of the people and the entire citizenry.

    At times, I sit down to ask myself what kind of people are appointed in those states that cannot boast of a good playing field. There is no way a state will invest in sport infrastructure and not benefit from such investment if the state is serious about the development of the sector. Future leaders are created from sport field worldwide and the reductions of negative vices are also achievable in places where we have sport facilities.

     

    The Akwa Ibom Uncommon Transformation Story

     

    We need people with the vision for uncommon transformation like in the case of what is currently on-ground in Akwa Ibom State if there is nothing else to use in remembering the tenure of the  Governor Godswill Akpabio I for one and millions of sport loving Nigerians will forever remain grateful to this uncommon transformer that has transformed the face of sport facility construction by setting a basic standard for the world to see.

    Courtesy: NairaLand.com

    I have often said before now, that we have what it takes to be a host heaven for major sporting events around the world but we need to do the needful first and that is construct a world class facility and also ensure there are tertiary health care provider not too far from the stadium that is well equipped, followed by hotels of world class standards, with good security and transportation system you will always host major sport events.

    The Akwa Ibom experience is a challenge to all state governors that have failed to invest in sport during their time as  governors of their respective states. I can assure you that no meaningful development can be as rapid as the one that will take place around a stadium because it is an open invitation to creative sport related businesses to strive.

    While appreciating the good work that has been done, I wish to challenge all other governors on the need to see sport as an important aspect of their transformation agenda. Funny enough we have some governors that have failed woefully in this area and they are always the first to congratulate the National Teams each time they win a trophy.

    On behalf of the sport loving Nigerians, I congratulate the good people of AkwaIbom for having this befitting sport complex and also thank  Governor Akpabio for ensuring that his uncommon transformation also affected sport one can only hope and pray that the facility will be maintained properly.

  • The end of an era

    The end of an era

    The truth of the matter according to a very good senior friend of mine in person of Mr.TadeAzeez   is that no one can give what he does not have we have come to the conclusion of an Era in the administration of the Senior National Team of Nigeria and I must say that there is lot to talk about during the just concluded era. Let me quickly remind my readers that the era of Coach Stephen OkechukwuKeshi was full of lots of memories.

    It was this coach that returned the lost glory of the Super Eagles after 19 years as African champions and he also qualified the team to the World Cup without much trouble. He also made sure that the Nigeria League players are introduced to the National Team and thus boosting the morale of our league players and creating competition among the teams.

    The journey of the Senior National team was further called to question when we began the AFCON qualification campaign in a very scary way as we struggled to defeat teams that ordinarily we are supposed to overrun if we are to go by the available paper analysis.

    I must not fail to also point out some fundamental issues that from the point of an observer may seem to be unethical and this is basically the relationship between Coach Stephen Keshi and his employers. It was not healthy to find an employee and his employers exchanging words on the pages of newspapers there cumulating into national discuss. A more civil approach would have addressed such miss-representation in the nearest future.

    We hope that things will be done differently with the Amaju led team made up of men with great ideas on how to transform the football sector into a very viable and workable sector. Let me also remind all concern that we need to protect the brand of football if we are to project the brand to attract sponsorship.

     

    CHANGING THE PERCEPTION OF CORPERATE NIGERIA

     

    In Nigeria we have a lot of blue chip companies and oil companies but very few out of these companies are interested in supporting sport. I believe that the reason why we have seen this type of reaction is simply because the managers of our sport have not been fair to sport management. It is only in sport that you find people of all works of life coming in to grab a stake in the administration of its affairs.

    Someone once said to me that it is only in sport that you see a situation whereby people without pre-requisite administration of sport qualification tend to claim to know better than those who actually studied sport management.  It is a shame that professionals are been pushed to the background at the expense of opportunist who claim to be stakeholders in sports.

    I have said it severally before now that the problem we have in our sport is created by those people that have nothing doing but who over the years have constituted themselves into a group of stakeholders in sport without having any viabe stake in sport. They crate the problem in sport because of their pecuniary gains and interest and after destroying the property of sport they are also invited to come and solve the problem they created which they never succeed in doing.

    We need to run sport like a professional business concern that it is and as such we don’t need to have mediocre that claim to be well experienced in handling port matters without any form of training. Let me also say that the fact that one is not a professional sport manager does not mean that the person cannot do something in sport. There are severally short term courses on sports that will assist such persons into appreciating the language of sport.

    Talking about language every profession has got its own language and if you engage a person that does not understand the language of sport to come and manage sport you are only preparing the recipe for mass destruction.

    To change the perception of Corporate Nigeria means that certain things must be done differently but change in itself has various stages and in administering the process of change we should consider the following zones:

     

    The diagram above illustrates three zones that are represented in the Change theory succinctly put; people are always in their comfort zone but when the process of change is activated people can tolerate moving from the comfort zone to the stretch zone. But any drastic change that will take people from their comfort zone to the panic zone will meet a corresponding resistance by the very people the change is meant for.

    We must therefore approach changing the perception of Corporate Nigeria gradually. Let our structures and systems speak the change as well as the processes that we put in place to showcase transparency and build integrity to our various sport brands.

  • CREATING JOBS WITHIN SPORT

    I remember once  asking my professor what the future holds for we the younger generation that are future sport administrators and managers.  He stared into my eyes and said to me boy with what I can see on-ground there is no future because of the current structure of our sport in Nigeria. As I sat in my office remunerating about what to write for this weekend, I cannot but remember this fundamental interaction I had with my professor some 15 years ago.

    However between the time I had this interaction with my professor and now I am sure that thousands of sport managers have been produced by our various universities and the question that  has been bothering me is out of these sport professionals how many have been absolved into sport related jobs.  More painful is the fact that the best sport administrators are gradually retiring from active service with little or no opportunity to transfer their years of experience to the younger generation.

    We need to develop the sport industry to enable us cater for the thousands of professionals that are being chunked out of our various universities yearly. Many sport professionals have had to deviate from their professional calling because they are unable to find the professional platform for which to practice their profession.

    The development of a viable sport industry will enable the nation to accommodate these categories of persons and also enhance the managerial capacity of our sport in Nigeria. While it is instructive to note that the government institutions cannot be relied upon as the sole segment that will employ these professionals we need to also crate the enabling environment for private sport sectors to strive so that we can also create jobs from such areas.

    Fundamentally, we need to have a situation whereby sport will be regarded as a proper investment opportunity whereby, the desire on to drive development for the entire sector will be considered as part of the transformation programmes of government. Sport, if properly harnessed, will create millions of jobs for Nigerians

    While we continue to encourage government at all levels to concentrate in developing the sport economy at their levels, we must also state clearly that the inherent potentials of making Nigeria a sport sector the most viable in Africa is readily available. We have the resources in terms of the manpower and we can also for now commit into advancing financial investment into the sector with the expectation of getting a good reward for their investment.

    The mentality that sport is to be classified as a social service venture calls for great concern because the truth of the matter is that while we can ascribe such notion to community sport developmental programmes we also must not relent in stressing the fact that sport as a business concern is also viable because it can be taken up as a career as well as a recreation.

    The development of a clear blue print that will see our sport metamorphise from its current state to becoming a viable industry is needed if we must enjoy the benefits of sport economy in Nigeria. We need to have this working blue print if we must move on to the next level of our sport development agenda for Nigeria.

    While it is also instructive to note that we may need to have people that will be committed in championing this noble call of promoting the economy of sport in Nigeria much is still expected from the various governments to do.  I have not seen a country that has so much opportunity of activating a docile industry like sport than Nigeria in my sojourn and studies of sports economy world over.

    The earlier we begin to address our minds to the fact that sport is more than the winning of laurels and trophies and that it is considered as a serious business concern we will continue to miss the point. The simple reason, however, why we have failed to see the private sector come into sport is because sport as a business concern has not been properly packaged and sold to them.

    We need to have people committed to the cause of propelling our sport to the next level and by this I will like to also state that the way and manner towards achieving these noble objectives is by inviting those that can help chart a clear road map for these achievements lest I forget passion without a corresponding skill and expertise will not be able to deliver sport economy to Nigerians hence we need to match passion with qualified professionals that will help drive the process.

  • Troubled water

    Waking up this morning, I was very troubled within me as I consider what has been going on within our sport circle in the past few months and I can only come to the conclusion that we really need God’s intervention in resolving all matters relating to our current challenges. While it is expedient for us to also note that heaven helps those who help themselves we must also not lose sight of the fact that we need to properly identify the root cause of our current challenges in a bid to addressing same accordingly.

    One most important factor militating against the development of sport in Nigeria is the role of meddlesome interlopers that have found their way into our sport through the back door and thereby constituting themselves as a clog in the wheel of progress in our sports development drive. There is so much to talk about the role and attitude of these persons and their allies.

    When people fail to see the need to do the right things then we are gradually heading for the rocks and this rock is eminent if alternative actions are not taken to prevent such actions. While we are also looking at the positive sides we must first ask ourselves why we are always in the mess we find ourselves in football.

    Many people that are today desirous of seeing our sport soar to the next level have not taken time to look at the root causes of the problems that have bedevilled our sports. We have a systemic problem in Nigeria sports and the problem is such that we have overtime allowed people who have nothing to do with sports to come and take over the instrumentality of sports in Nigeria.

    Let me also say that we have a situation whereby every year we introduce new set of entrants into the sports circles and these entrants are all coming into the sports to further compound the problems in our sports. They have overtime developed themselves into a very serious force that is now working against the development of sports in Nigeria.

    Let us take look at what we are currently experiencing at the various sport Federations in Nigeria we have at every election year a situation whereby there will be a serious crises and these crises have been generated by people that are not in away interested in the development of our sport. The core professionals are now outsiders in their own domain and they are more like spectators now watching the unfolding drama in their own profession.

    Why must we allow people who have no interest in the development of our sport to now hijack the entire process of sport development? The essence of all this is the fact that we have made our various sport Federations to be unattractive to persons that will be willing to partner with our sport Federations for the purpose of adding to its development.

    Today another drama is playing out in our football and we will be worst off if we don’t curtail this unfolding drama that has the propensity of destroying the very fabric of football that we stand to cherish and protect. As I have postulated earlier that during each election year we find people who have nothing to contribute towards our sport development constituting themselves as another group of stakeholders.

    Imagine a situation where an Electoral Committee that was constituted by the Nigeria Football Federation to conduct elections is now working independent of the Federation. While it is expedient to acknowledge the fact that the Electoral Committee is an independent body it is worthy to mention that its independence does not make it a legal and separate entity outside the Nigeria Football Federation.

    However, we have a very shocking show of shame in this case we have a committee that is bigger than the entity that created it I even noted that the Chairman of the NFF Electoral Committee is hell-bent on conducting elections into the NFF Executive Committee on 26th August, 2014 while the NFF is also hell- bent in ensuring that the election be postponed.

    In all these I was taken aback by the statement of the NFF Electoral Committee Chairman that everyone in the Glass House is an illiterate but I beg to disagree because I am aware that the current team of management and staff are professionals with varying degrees ranging from Ph.D to OND. Let us look at the need to really do the needful rather than causing serious problems in our football. May God Help our Football.

  • Leadership in sport organisations

    In my continued quest to resolve the puzzle characterised by the disposition of our various sports organisations to leadership, I came across a very pertinent variable that has the propensity and capacity to either develop or retard the development of sport in Nigeria.Today most organisations in the world are adopting new methods of solving problems, which many would refer to as strategic change structures. However, less can be said about our various sport federations, associations and clubs as it relates to having a seamless transition or leadership change.

    Leadership change in this context is not the mere change in the office from one person to another, it is the overall change in leadership as characterised by the availability of enduring administrative structure that is relative to each sport organisation with specific reference to the modus operandi of leadership change.

    It has been found that a company’s culture has a direct impact on revenue and profit. Recent research indicates that a variance of 28 per cent in revenue and profit can be explained by differences in organisational culture and climate.

    Thus, a more positive and healthy organisational culture and climate will impact directly on the bottom line of its organisational achievements. Of even greater interest is the fact that leadership style is seen to have a significant impact on company culture.

    The way that the leaders behave will directly influence the culture. The culture in turn will directly affect the profit, therefore it is vitally important that leaders at all levels in an organisation understand the impact of their performance to the overall organisational mandate. It is estimated that 70 per cent of the variance in organisational climate can be explained by differences in leadership styles.

    Whereas we can say, that part of our problem in our sport federations and associations can be rightly placed on the feet of the terrible leadership as exemplified by the quality of persons occupying the leadership positions in some sport organisations in Nigeria. These persons most of whom got to the said position by sheer manipulation and in some cases outright imposition lack the necessary prerequisite qualification to be saddled with the responsibility of leading sport organisations in Nigeria.

    The role of leadership in sport organisation should be looked into critically if we must get it right in our drive towards the attainment of sports excellence. Because we have in the past years been out of favour or should I say unlucky with the quality of persons who occupy sport leadership positions in Nigeria.

    We must redefine the process that produces leaders of sport organisations with a bid of putting in place structures which will in the long run produce quality individuals with the necessary skills and expertise of managing sport organisations. It is only right and proper that we get these structures in place so as to prevent an occasion for mediocre emerging as leaders of our sport organisations.

    Sport like any other critical sector is key and fundamental towards the sustenance of international recognition of any country and it is a platform of international diplomacy. Hence, we must be concerned about the quality of persons that occupy leadership positions in our various sport organisations. The fact is that sport is a brand projector and must be administered by those adequately prepared for the role of leadership.

    We need to have men and women of integrity and by this I mean people that are of high standards that are not reviled but that are well respected. We need to see people with the requisite academic, professional and managerial pedigree.Those that have managed successful organisations, of similar magnitude men of truth, honour and vision

    We need people that will be able to show the needed leadership and not those that are going there because of what the office can provide for them. We need to filter the process that begets men and women that are made leaders of our sport organisations in Nigeria. I strongly believe that the National Sports Commission(NSC) can lead in this direction by developing a structure that would stand the test of time and thus put in place mechanisms that will see  only credible persons emerge as leaders of our sport organisations.

    Those of us that are core professionals cannot do it alone. We need experts in business management to be brought on-board and the NSC should also work with coprate Nigeria and the academia in developing an enduring structure that will help in setting specific criteria that will be used to determine the quality of persons emerging as leaders in our sports. A word is enough for the wise.

  • The plight of coaches

    The plight of coaches

    Today I want to talk briefly on the plight of Nigerian coaches and by this I mean the challenges that this category of persons face in their daily pursuit for survival in our sporting polity. Firstly, the coaching profession in Nigeria is not considered by the operators of our sector as a professional body that needs to be given its due regard and honour as the case may be.

    Most coaches in Nigeria struggle through their career period and end up in abject poverty without anything to fall back on. The Nigerian coach is passionate about his or her sport, in fact they are the number one stakeholders in the development of sport in Nigeria. But rather than being treated with respect most times they are regarded with great disdain.

    The coaches are the ones who identify the athletes in their raw states and then mold them into super stars for all to appreciate and adore. However, the builder himself is mostly forgotten. This case calls for urgent action.

    Most Nigerian coaches are academically deficient because a large number of them were former athletes that later became coaches of their chosen sport, as such the ones who are not properly educated are more in number. As a result of this inadequacy, most coaches are cheated by their employers who in most cases are not professional sport administrators.

    There are coaches in Nigeria that take up appointment without a spelt out contract containing their terms of agreement, but because of their love and passion for their sport some of them are always blinded by ignorance and are much in a hurry to take up the job. This again is not unconnected to the state of poor regard for coaches in Nigeria

    A coach is a fundamental actor in the act of developing sport in Nigeria, and failure to give the coach his needed place or regard will amount to us destroying the builders of our sport foundation. The greatest job that has the capacity to translate a given policy into action is that of a coach; they hardly have any job security and as such are vulnerable to job insecurity as their continued survival as a coach is based on the performance of their athletes

    I have been able to discuss with some coaches who narrated their ordeals to me and I tell you that it is so pathetic as most times they work so hard and have nothing to show for it. Whereas the administrator can afford to sit in the VIP area, the coach will have to be on the pitch come rain, come sunshine. The failure of an athlete or team is put squarely on the shoulders of the coach

    To worsen the matter of the coach is the fact that almost everyone in Nigeria claims to be a coach in one sport or the another, as such the job of the coach is not regarded as anything serious, in fact I have heard people say that the coaches do nothing and are just there enjoying the fame that comes with winning.

    Except for a few of the coaches that are appointed as national coaches where there seems to be a level of sanity, relatively speaking, because at the national level too we have seen the poor management of coaches’ welfare to say the least. Whereas from afar the coach is regarded as a super rich individual, the truth is that some of the coaches are busy working without being paid salaries with the promise that when the team does well and is eventually promoted to the next level, money will come. Unfortunately, only few coaches stay to grow with the team when the time comes as they are mostly sacked or replaced unceremoniously

    A situation whereby a coach is in need is not good for our sport development, because such situations can create opportunities for the coach to be easily compromised. Little wonder why we see lots of coaches compromising their professional judgment all in the bid of making extra money to survive. While I condemn this act by some, I will also like to enjoin all concerned to please take care of the coaches’ welfare.

    Many renowned coaches of repute in Nigeria are dying in poverty, some are being owed by their former clubs, others are sick and lack money to pay their medical bills. The issue which we all need to bring to the fore is that coaches are professionals who deserve to be respected, paid as at when due and encouraged to give their best.

    Without a coach there can be no athlete and when there is no athlete sport does not exist. A word is enough for the wise coaches should insist on having signed contracts between themselves and their employers.

  • Administrative hypocrisy in sport

    Today I would like us to take a closer look at one of the fundamental problems associated with our sport. This problem is not common to sport administration alone but I can say categorically that it is well rooted within sport management circles. To say the least, we have had occasions where some people have beclouded the judgment of sport managers through advancing the act of hypocrisy at the expense for right and sane judgment.

    I’m disturbed about this age-long trend that has become trendy in our sports circles, a situation where people who ordinarily should know the truth are preoccupied with subverting the truth, all in the interest of gaining favour from sport administrators. Most times they defend what is not even logical and due to their selfish and parochial interest a combined factor that has the capacity to destroy the entire fabric of the sport sector

    More annoying is the fact that this same set of people are either appointed into committees or even mandated to oversee a given sport federation or programme as a way of compensation. Their objective is to survive through hypocrisy by enriching themselves with whatever they can grab from sports. They are the people I refer to as sport parasites, never adding any value to the sector.

    Sport managers are to be very careful in identifying this calibre of people. You may ask me how we can identify them from genuine and committed individuals and my answer is simple. When you have a person who tells you what is always music to your ears and is not contributing in any way to the advancement of your sport, I will say beware of such people.

    The danger in this trend is that when these people fail to achieve their aims, you will notice that they will constitute themselves as enemies of progress and destroyers of the system. They will form various alliances of opposition to fight those administering sports and the fight can be in different forms, ranging from court litigations, petitions, impeachment attempts or seeing to the transfer of the concerned officer and in most cases outright blackmail

    These people are the unnecessary evil bedeviling our sport and distorting the growth and development of our sector. Most times we have been able to witness that even in the committee of sport managers there are some who strive in hypocrisy because they feel that they are not secure due to their inefficiency.

    The crux of the matter therefore is for us to ask why the need for such attitude in our sport sector. And to a large extent, we also need to begin to identify the kind of people that we give certain responsibilities to in our sport as we can no longer sit down as professionals and allow hypocritical tendencies to strive and hold sway in our sporting environment.

    Let me also say that there should be a well defined criteria adopted by sport managers to use as a guide for their engagement of people into certain critical responsibilities in sport. We should no longer accommodate people who are not having any responsible form of livelihood to hijack the machinery of our sport mechanism.

    The greatest problems we have encountered in our various sport federations and commissions as well as clubs have been caused by people who have no business in sport and who know next to nothing about sport, but have succeeded in making their way through the corridors of power to pollute the minds of top sport managers, who in turn have blindly appointed them into strategic sections of our sport.

    A very good example is evident in the recently conducted sport federations’ board elections in which some people were elected into boards of sport federations. It is instructive to note that I was very shocked when I saw some people contesting for elections into one board or the other and I ask myself, where are the professionals and those who have genuine interest at heart to administer sport? My answer was not farfetched as I can clearly see that these people are all victims of negative critics, a combination of hypocrisy.

    Some of the boards that were elected have not been able to meet since the election, yet you want sport to be developed. While we cannot take it away from some others that are working hard to improve the lot of their given sport, thus by implication winning laurels for the country, we cannot say same about some other sport federations.

    More important is the failure of such a system to develop any tangible structure within Nigeria and this has been the bane of the retarded nature of Nigerian sport development locally, because we have purported policy makers without the attendant knowledge to drive the sector.

    We need to speak and act in a way that will reflect our collective desire to position sport as an economic tool for empowering Nigerians.

  • Sport managers and coaches’ training

    The training of sport managers in Nigeria is a needed antidote towards the restructuring of the sector for better performance. However, a vivid observation can reveal that this has not been the case for some time now. Sport is dynamic and those saddled with the responsibility of managing sport are expected to improve on their knowledge and skills to enable them discharge their duties in a more professional manner.

    To develop sport economy within Nigeria, we need to also develop the human capacity of those saddled with the responsibility of driving the entire process, failure to do this will simply imply that the entire design for change will only but remain a dream. The truth about this saying is that you cannot give what you don’t have and this is why the training of these classes of people have become imperative.

    A critical assessment of the quality of education at the disposal of our current sport managers will show that most of the managers are not professionally prepared for the job they are into, hence the need for them to upgrade their knowledge in sport management to meet up with the changes experienced in contemporary times.

    Also, most sport professionals have either a first degree in Physical and Health Education or an NCE in same discipline. It will take an additional exposure to modern trends of sport management through updated training to see them through the needed change that is being advocated for in Nigeria.

    Our sport managers, most of whom are not adequately equipped through training, should be encouraged to update their knowledge in sport management. Countries like South Africa comes readily to my mind as I look at nations that have invested much in the development of their sport officers and managers over time and this is paying off, because you now see a great difference in the manner of sport management by the least officer on the ladder of administration.

    A similar thing is happening in Ghana, Kenya and north African countries, to mention a few, but we in Nigeria are not benefitting from this because most people at the helm of affairs do not seem to know that the quality of execution of any viable sport policy depends on the quality of the sports manager and I make bold to say that most of our sport managers, especially those in the state sports councils are in need of this training we are talking about.

    Drawing from the various experiences that we have been able to gather over the years, any keen follower of our sport industry will agree with me that we have been doing the same thing over and over. But for some changes introduced in the last few years there hasn’t been much difference in the way sport is administered in Nigeria, especially at the various sports councils.

    Also, another very important component of our sport development which for years has been overlooked is the absence of coaches’ training programmes for our various coaches and also the recruiting of new coaches to understudy aging and retiring ones. Coaches are the actual actors when it comes to grassroots sport development programmes and they need to update their knowledge in their chosen sport.

    As much as I will want to say that those in authority should try and do something for their respective sport managers and coaches in the areas of training, some have also been identified as not being interested in updating their knowledge as a result of laziness and some of these classes of people are in-charge of strategic sport-related offices.

    I remember visiting a swimming pool in one African country and was surprised to learn that the pool managers and divers are sent to as far as London and Dubai for training. These people return home to give the very best of the training they receive from the countries mentioned. On my return to Nigeria, I tried to enquire about our swimming pool managers and regrettably their situation cannot be compared to what I have just mentioned.

    The crux of the matter here is the need for us to develop the interest and will towards the training of sport managers and coaches in Nigeria. These category of persons need to receive the best of training since they are the ones that are saddled with the responsibility of executing the various sport policies within the territory of Nigeria.

  • Unlocking sport financing

    We are all aware of the importance of finance to any human venture and sport development within the territory of Nigeria is not an exception when it comes to the need for finance to execute programmes.

    We have been made to believe over the years that without government financial intervention we cannot achieve the desired stimulation of sports economy within the territory of Nigeria.

    Today, however, I would like to discuss ways through which the government can facilitate and not finance the local sport economy in Nigeria. I’m sure most people will be wondering how this can happen but the truth is that it is very possible.

    Firstly, the government needs to lay the foundation by ensuring that the right legislation for sports is put in place and by this I mean there is the need for the various government agencies to be properly backed by law to discharge their duties.

    Secondly, the government needs to enlist sport as a priority project to benefit from the SURE-P Intervention funds.

    The aforementioned fund should be channeled towards the development of sport facilities within the local governments of Nigeria and it should come with a proviso that for state governments to participate in this benefit, the interested state should be made to contribute 30% of the total cost of construction of the project.

    Thirdly, our sport organisations should take more seriously the engagement of professionals to man the various critical components of the administration of our sport. We must be able to ensure that we organise sport in a manner that will stimulate the interest of the organised private sector and also the various television stations across the nation

    We should also have a vibrant marketing department to be manned by marketing professionals whose duties it will be to market the various sports, highlighting their various benefits to prospect sponsors and partners and I must say that there is no law that says we cannot attract direct foreign investment into our local sport economy

    What is most fundamental is for us to be determined to give sport its rightful place within the polity of Nigeria. I’m getting sick and tired of us talking always about Nigeria participating at international sporting events and the need for government to ensure that we do very well by facilitating the early release of funds. While I agree with this saying, I am more concerned about the actual development of the internal sport economy in Nigeria

    Sport as an employment generation mechanism is critical to stimulating the economy of sport in Nigeria. There is no gainsaying in the capacity of sport to deliver employment for our youths and the Nigerian people. This leads me to the issue of why we have failed to attract into Nigeria a sportwear manufacturing company of repute. Let us imagine that we are able to attract a major sportwear manufacturing company in Nigeria.

    Such company will be able to employ staff as factory workers, marketers, sales representatives, managers, security, and also patronise our local agricultural market from where they will get their raw materials. This aspect of our internal sport economy is very critical to the development of this sector and as I always say, we need to get certain incentives on ground that will attract such companies to Nigeria.

    When we travel to other African countries, we witness sport brands shops where branded sport wears are sold. In Nigeria, despite our population of over one hundred and sixty million people we can hardly boast of having a sport brand shop owned by the company here in Nigeria. We don’t have an Addidas shop, Puma shop or Nike Shop or other related sport shops in Nigeria.

    The opportunities are all there and they are enormous, to mention a few, aside the main aspect of sport organisation which has the potential of creating jobs in Nigeria, we can also see that the introduction of sport wears manufacturing companies and their chains of sport shops across Nigeria is a veritable avenue through which we can actually activate our sport economy.

    We need to also look at the manufacturing of sport equipment companies. All around the world we have these companies and they present various opportunities to their host communities such as employment of the local indigenes where such companies are located. More importantly is the ability of such companies to become exporting companies thus contributing to the growth and development of the nation’s economy.

    The process of unlocking sport financing requires a collaborative venture between all critical stakeholders and drivers of the Nigerian economy. We need attractive investment policies to be extended to sportwear manufacturers as well as the sport equipment manufacturers, we also need the creation of an enabling environment in the areas of giving certain tax rebates and incentives that will awaken investors’ desire to invest their money in Nigeria.

    It is my belief that Nigeria will in this year 2014 commence the full recognition of sport as a veritable instrument for the development of both the micro and macro economy of any country and Nigeria will not be an exception to this experience.

    Let us hope and expect that the needed recipe that will transform our sector will be activated by all concerned.

  • Promoting internal sport economy

    Today marks my first piece in the year 2014, a year of significance both in our national life as modern Nigeria and in our individual life as citizens of this great country called Nigeria, the Giant of Africa. Permit me to extend my warm and sincere compliments to all sport lovers, administrators, officials, athletes, spectators, sponsors, media and all other stakeholders in the business of sport within Nigeria.

    While expectations are high in some quarters as it relates to the expected performance of our various national teams at this year’s international sporting competitions across the globe, which of course will be starting with the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) coming up next week, attention should also be drawn towards developing the industry of sports within Nigeria.

    We may not have a better opportunity to commence the development of this industry within Nigeria than now, considering the opportunities that are available to us, a factor that if not explored now may be missed for life; this factor is the enduring peace and sanity within the sporting terrain in Nigeria.

    What more do I say than the fact that we need to put into motion a machinery that will activate the business of sport in Nigeria in 2014. We need to begin to see how our sports locally can be professionally managed in line with international best practices. We have to see how our internal regulations are reviewed to cater for observed lapses in previous years

    We have to collaborate with all strategic agencies in this drive towards promoting the economy of sport within Nigeria. We have to sell this idea of using sport to address unemployment to the Federal Government. If Nollywood can benefit from Federal Government grants then we need to learn a thing or two from that industry which is doing very well.

    However, I cannot fail to ask the following questions to our sport handlers; are we comfortable with the state of sport within Nigeria? And please don’t get me wrong, sport, as a product in Nigeria, is not selling as it ought to because it has failed to meet the minimum basic requirement that will attract serious minded investors.

    Why do we waste time in organising sports within Nigeria without thinking of the business angle? Have we tried to find out what it will entail for investors to patronise our sports? What is our relationship with the police as it relates to sport events within Nigeria? What is our attitude to positive change are we resistant to change or amiable to change

    Do we believe that sport can become a multi-billion naira investment in Nigeria? If yes, then what is it that we are doing currently to harness the investment opportunities? The truth is if the current administrators of our sport fail to take decisive action towards developing the industry within Nigeria, they should not cry foul when an initiative is taken without their full control, in which case they become spectators in their own game.

    Furthermore, all sport managers today, I’m very sure, know what it is to activate the internal sport economy in Nigeria and as such will be doing a great service to this nation if and when they so decide to change the current situation in our internal sport economy.

    We must also be very careful when attempting to open up the economic space of sport within Nigeria, as we have seen in some cases where contracts are signed binding certain sport organisations yet under value their worth in the market, as such the internal economy of such sport organisations are crippled and the essence defeated.

    More work needs to be done by the regulators of our sport. They must stop being myopic in their reasoning and perception of sport. They must now engage the services of experts that will be able to assist in the development of a blue print that will see to the eventual take-off of the internal sport economy.

    The National Sports Commission (NSC) should as a matter of urgency activate the establishment of a Monitoring and Enforcement Department that will be responsible in ensuring that any federation whose league is to start within the territory of Nigeria abides by certain international best practices, e.g. Such intentions should not be established on the basis of creating an avenue for self enrichment at the detriment of the sport and all its stakeholders.

    The National Assembly will also do us a great justice and support to this new quest by ensuring that the necessary legislation is passed to support the legitimacy of all government sport organisations, thus making it possible for them to function adequately without any hindrance.

    For me, until we get to the point when sport is able to create employment and also contribute to the Nigerian GDP, we will have not recorded full success in our sport and this should be part of our priority projects for all sports in 2014.