SAVE OUR SPORTS: A Plea To The Hon. Sports Minister

My beloved Hon. Minister,
You have my admiration, for the ‘sports–man–like’ competitive posture you adopted during the conversation between you and Seun Okinbaloye on 14^th August 2024, on Channels Television.I think Seun must have assumed that he was engaging a rookie on a national issue as sensitive as sports.I loved the dexterity with which you parried the punches he threw at you. However, the no surrender, no defeat duel ended ojorolessly, with both of you agreeing that a STATE OF EMERGENCY should be declared in Nigerian sports. I agree Hon. Minister.

Columnists and sportswriters have written volumes on Team Nigeria’s performance, and non-performance at the recently concluded 2024 Paris Olympics, which you Hon. Minister, rightly described as shameful and a disaster. So, how do we ensure that Nigerians don’t experience that sort of disgrace again?

How do we ensure that the systemic decline in national sports administration, development, promotion, and business, over the past six decadesstops now?Must we encourage the bastardization of sports values, and, the emergence of morally debased sports administrators, managers, and coaches, the absence of adequate training facilities, the poor maintenance of facilities to continue unabatedly? Should the inability of your predecessors to provide the necessary enabling environment, which has sadly frustrated and truncated your efforts, and efforts made by some of the patriotic stakeholders and technocrats and athletes, who have tried to helpbe tolerated and permitted to continue? What manner of mechanism should be put in place to eradicate the above-mentioned obnoxious vices?

 

SPORTS IN BRIEF

Sir, sports is the only thread binding us together as a nation in Nigeria. Not politics, not religion. We are shedding innocent blood and destroying infrastructural facilities in Nigeria because of religion and politics. Sports is also one of the most lucrative vocations in the world. Sports business is a massive fallow ground yet to be positively and effectively explored in our beloved country. Sports is a humungous platform for job creation,as is practiced in nations where sports is regarded as a viable industry. When appropriately harnessed, sports will seamlessly generate millions of jobs andproduce massive internally and externally generated revenues like the telecom, and oil and gas industries. Sports cuts across all stereotypes and borders. Consequently, sports has the potential to be a veritable tool in securing the future of millions of sports talent in Nigeria, now under your care. The question, again, is how?

 

SOLUTIONS

Hon. Minister,the race before you is a sprint, and since you have agreed that there is an urgent need to overhaul the entire sports industry in Nigeria, you just must walk the talk. I wish to humbly crave your indulgence to proffer some suggestions I believe should take sports to the next level in this greatly blessed nation. However, according to Mother Theresa – “I cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” This is all I humbly wish to accomplish sir, with all due respect.

 

THE BLACK BOX THINKING

Please weneed to urgently conduct an analytical study of the tenure of your predecessors, fromthe late Chief Joseph Modupe Johnson (aka JMJ) 1960–1964), to Sunday Dare (2019-2023). You will discover that there have been 35 Sports Ministers, and you are the 36^th. There is something unique about the number 36.This study is to unravel the mystery behind the systemic decline, and how to revive the moribund sports industry in Nigeria.

Sir, for us to successfully conduct this research, I humbly recommend a studyof the Aviation Industry, as suggested by my good friend Mathew Syed, who in 1995, became the British number-one table tennis player at the age of 24. He is alsothe author of the book – ‘Black Box Thinking.’ Simply put,each of the 35 Hon. Ministers before you was the pilot of a‘sports aircraft’ that landed softly or otherwise. Each of these‘sportsaircraft’ had a black box, filled with data – positive and negative, for us to decipher, to proffer credible solutions that would strategically reverse the horrible decline, in Nigerian sports.That is number one.

 

THE JUDO STRATEGY

This is simply the art and science of turning your opponent’s weight, speed, and power to your advantage, using movement, balance, and leverage. It is a systematic way of strategic BLACK-BOX THINKING, which simply states that we can confront our mistakes by learning from the importance of the black box in an aircraft. Thus, creating an environment where we can learn from previous mistakes, and ensure safety. Sounds rather prosaic but loaded with massive positive potential impact. And guess what,the resources to achieve these abound in this country.You only need to headhunt, moon shoot, and be strategic, decisive, sincere, bold, and intentional.

 

RE-INTRODUCTION OF THE NATIONAL SPORTS COMMISSION

Hon. Minister, you were right, and perhaps the only Sports Minister in recent times, to acknowledge that the current sports structure in Nigeria is inadequate and obsolete and hence needs a complete overhaul, to restore its former glory. You also admitted that we needed a functional system and structure. These can be seamlessly achieved by ensuring that Nigeria embraces one of the global best practices in sports, with the re-introduction of the National Sports Commission (NSC),with you, as the Executive Chairman for the next threeyears,instead of the Ministry of Youth & Sports Development. This will enable you to overhaul the system and employ professionals, who will run sports in Nigeria as an enterprise, and not as civil service.

It is when the National Sports Commission is put in place that the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) can become the hub of elite and grassroots – especially school sports; and not just like a department under the sports ministry, as currently constituted. This is one of the major changes that must take place in Nigerian sports if we are serious about taking sports to the next level.

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ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL SPORTS SCIENCE INSTITUTE &HIGH-PERFORMANCE CENTRES

Hon. Minister, another major reason Nigerian sports is nose-diving is the absence of any Sports Science Institute with a Body of Researchers to conduct very basic cutting-edge research that shouldtechnologically drive experiments, innovations, and breakthroughs, especially via Sports Science, Digital and Sports Business. There is none in Nigeria today.

With the establishment of aNational Sports Science Institute, Nigeria will becapable ofevolvinginstitutionalized sports development strategies and POLICIES, that will deo-volente, produce – very soon, tremendous levels of positive results in Nigeria sports, through the inculcation of sports science into our sports training methodologies.

As a member of the Association of Sports Performance Centres (ASPC), which is the international organization in charge of High-Performance Centres globally – working in tandem with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), I know, through research conducted and still being conducted, that, the superior performances of modern–day athletes are the products of a very simple combination of physiological, biomechanical, nutritional, and psychological factors. I comment with due respect and humility sir.

We – in the ASPC – have discovered that coaches and trainers in nations excelling at the Olympics and other high-profile international and national competitions and events, recognize that the most consistent methods of preparing athletes for the demands of national or international competitions are those based on proven scientific principles.

We have also discovered that any country’s future success in any sports at the highest level is determined by the ability of its sports scientists to identify those persons – officials, coaches, trainers, and athletes, with special training talents and initiate the appropriate research programmes to foster specific human and other factors, that determine success in Sports Administration, Development, Competitions, and Business.

STATE OF EMERGENCY

Sir, you need a lot of tact and wisdom to achieve this. To begin with, a matter of such national importance requires very thorough consultations, inclusive deliberations, and consensus. Remember sir that sovereignty belongs to the people. And, in a nation like Nigeria, everybody is a coach. Besides, the cabal will vigorously resist such a positive programme that will eventually hinder their access to the ‘national cake.’ This is why the National Sports Summit is crucial. The mainstream must be strategically harnessed.

NATIONAL SPORTS SUMMIT

Hon. Minister, I thereforestronglyrecommend, that you convoke a National Sports Summit, which will involve philanthropists, Olympians,stakeholders, and technocrats, especially from the Ministries of Education, Agriculture and Health, National Orientation Agency, and from the Local Government Areas of the country. Corporate organizations like banks, industries, and the NBA, should be invited to participate in the summit.

This summit should be tasked with the responsibilities of eliminating bureaucracy and red tape from sports management, administration, promotion, and business, in Nigeria.

It is when Nigeriacanestablish a National Sports Commission, a National Sports Science Institute, and High-Performance Centres in all the states of the federationthat we will begin to gain influence, relevance,and respect. It must become statutory for all states in Nigeria to transform all Sports Councils and Sports Ministries into Sports Commissions.This can be legislated seamlessly.

The summit will also discuss issues concerning the funding of sports in Nigeria generally. In countries where sports are managed as serious business, elite or professional sports thrive on sponsorships, partnerships, grants, and scholarships. While government fund is used strictly for the development of grassroots sports, especially at the community and school sports levels,the reverse is the case in Nigeria. Indeed, 95% of government funding for sports in Nigeria goes to funding of football clubs, sports federations, and associations. A travesty of the nobility of this vocation called sports. This is unacceptable and must stop NOW.

Hon. Minister, there are assurances that medals will be won during the Para-Olympic Games. It will therefore be necessary for Nigeria to adequately celebrate ALL the athletes who have participated in both Games as a sincere gesture of appreciation to our OLYMPIANS.

This is the gospel truth.

 

God bless Nigeria.