By Ben Efe
The fanfare and the skepticism that greeted the return of the National Sports Commission has died down, sportsmen and women are asking we do we go from here? There more to be seen and more to be done.
So far, the response from Shehu Dikko the man at the helms is grammar and more grammar of a mission statement. For Bukola Olopade who would be like the engine room of the NSC, it is the usual enthusiastic and grandiose promise of “Yes I can do it.”
Their appointments by President Bola Tinubu merited or not merited, it the closest to the clarion call by sports people to have people who know what they are doing to run Nigerian sports. Before now politicians who have little background in sports administration have mounted the saddle and it has been catastrophe after catastrophe, from one crisis to another.
From the red beret freak Solomon Dalung who organized the most corrupt sports federations elections in the country’s history and bungled Nigeria’s preparations for the 2016 Olympics but for John Obi Mikel and a Japanese admirer who inspired the U23 team to a bronze medal finish, to Sunday Dare who handed over the iconic National Stadium Surulere Lagos to Baba Ijebu and lastly to farm boy John Owan Enoh who packed all his village people to the Paris 2024 Olympics and left Nigerian coaches behind, Nigerian sports have taken a bad bashing and it’s time to fix it.
Before the duo of Dikko and Olopade plunge into the deep murky sea of shenanigans that have characterized Nigerian sports they need to sort out ambiguities and technicalities like what law empowers the NSC, members staff of staff…civil service or professionally engaged, administrative structures, clearly defined roles and goals and ways to achieve them.
There has to be a workable blueprint that will put the NSC on auto pilot even if it is Aminu Maigari that’s appointed chairman in this never-ending political game of musical chairs, the occupiers of the NSC top positions do not have to beat around the bush or in the words of late coach Lee Eavans “Walk around, walk around and do nothing.”
The immediate task for the NSC is January’s National Sports Festival… the Nigerian mini-Olympics that is gradually taking the shape of a glorified school inter-house sports with often predictable outcome. It would be a first test of how the NSC wants to organise things, which direction they are taking sports development. Will it be the normal Sports Ministry policy gymnastics or a clear 100m dash? Sports enthusiasts will surely be taking their notes and not expect too much.
Next is the sporting federations elections billed for some time in 2025. The gladiators are already warming up for a contest, which in the old dispensation would have already been fixed in the office of the Sports Minister a development that unsettled many sporting federations and bred crisis.
This time around the NSC must ensure that no election is bought, no particular candidates are favoured, allow each federation congress to vote in their preferred executive board members and presidents. There should be no knocking on delegates hotel room doors for late night conversations and palm slapping.
If the Sporting Federations do not have members who quickly become leeches that would be a first step in reorganising sports and taking its development to another level where programs are run, sponsorship for events and athletes’ development are sought. No federation president should keep his members in the dark about what he or she is doing. The rules and regulations concerning every federation must be adhered to.
The Sporting Federations should be structured towards depending less on government interventions just like their counterparts abroad, they should be able to generate funds to run programs right from the grassroots to the national level. For instance, the US boxing federation has 11 different sponsors, aside from the government grants for their international contests, little wonder they dominate the sport.
Apart from football and maybe wrestling, many sporting federations failed to attend international contests this is because of lack of funds. Some others that went, they did so with tears. The track and field athletes and coaches who participated in the last World Junior in Lima Peru, are yet to receive their allowances.
The poor preparations and motivation of Nigerian athletes for continental and world contests is well documented, it is only those do not understand the dynamics that build ups that would be blaming the coaches and their athletes. The last sports administration was a disaster in this aspect; at the 2023 Africa Games in Accra, Ghana there was no camping for the athletes, all the sporting federations were basically on their own, allowances was slow in coming, some of the athletes were paid almost a month after the games.
In Accra Mr. Enoh brought world record holder in the women 100m hurdles Tobi Amusan to tears when he told her bluntly there was no money to pay for her return ticket, it took pleas from concerned stakeholders before Enoh reluctantly agreed to settle her claims.
This was the beginning of the disastrous outing at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Training grants were given to the athletes in the middle of the games, and it was even discriminatory…the foreign based were paid $5,000, while the home based were paid $4,000, disaffection soon spread and the one team, one Nigeria spirt was crushed. At end Enoh blamed the various federation presidents for the dismal outing.
The Olympics sports federation presidents were all happy when President Tinubu smashed the Sports Ministry that couldn’t justify the N12 billion released to it for the Olympics. Enoh must be licking his lips in whatever backyard ministry he was posted to. Sure, Nigerians have had enough of mediocrity in sports administration.
These are the pitfalls the NSC of Mr. Dikko and Mr. Olopade must avoid, there must be some level of professionalism, right from top to bottom. This is not the time to sit in the comfort of their offices and drink coffee or whatever spirit they love to gulp, once the sporting federations are settled, the NSC should be on the go to ensure that every single aspect of sports development is on stream.
As director-general Olopade should practically be on the field to get to know the head coaches of each federation, their programs for development, training and competitions. He should familiarise himself with every potential Olympic podium athlete in all sports and begin with the coaches to work out how to prepare them for the big ones. It should not be three weeks to the 2028 Games work should start. It starts now, otherwise Nigerians would be singing the same old song…”Lets go back to the drawing board.”
