Former Nigeria 400m great Bruce Ijirigho has urged the sporting federations to present a 25-year development plan, which will form a template for discovering and grooming of athletes that will make podium performances at the up coming international events.
Dr. Ijirigho who was making an assessment of the nation’s sports development and also the new vigour being displayed by the newly inaugurated National Sports Commission to reposition Nigeria sports, said a long-term development plan will sustain development goals, which successive boards of the federations can build upon.
“The most effective and productive approach is for each Federation to produce their 25-year development plan with definite performance benchmarks and goals that are aligned with our national aspirations of podium success in international competitions,” Dr. Ijirigho
“The plan must cover the discovery and long-term performance of Youth, Junior and Elite athletes in that sport. Once the plans are in place, each incoming board would have to continue its implementation from where its predecessor left off until the goals are achieved. The plans must be dynamic and amenable to minor fine-tuning based on challenges encountered during implementation or positive changes in the sport. This is not rocket science.”
He noted that for this to work effectively the sporting federations must be peopled by only those who have passion for sports and also have result achieving mindset, otherwise implementation would be a forgone hope.
“The only problem will come with plan implementation because that is where the rubber meets the road.
“That is also where people who are genuinely passionate and ready to work doggedly towards the desired results are needed. Such people are rare in our country.”
He added that the major problem sports had always faced in the country is individuals who are less concerned about the athletes and their development, but their own selfish agendas.
“As the bible says, “the harvest is plenty, but the labourers are few”. Most of us are imposters and noise makers looking for what to chop. We are after the money and power that these plans will birth and not results. Love of country, passion and sacrifice are the main ingredients needed to get us to the next level.”
Photo: From right former Nigerian ex-internationals Charlton Ehizuelen, Bruce Ijirigho, Yusuf Alli and Godwin Obasogie at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium.