Nigerian tennis legend, Sadiq Abdullahi has laid down a road map for the revamping of the sport in the country.
Abdullahi who dominated the Nigerian tennis scene between 1984 -1989, submitted that with proper planning and strategy, Nigeria can produce tennis greats just like in the 80s and 90s.
He was speaking against the background of dwindling tennis fortunes in Nigeria.
He said with strong commitment to tennis development by all stakeholders, the country in the next couple of years can boast of a new crop of players that can make the nation proud.
Abdullahi who won silver at the 1987 African Games in Kenya and represented Nigeria at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul Korea, maintained that the structures, which produced great players in the past was not longer existing.
“The reason we have not replicate players of the great past is because there is no succession program,” US based Abdullahi told Global Sports Update hosted by Godwin Enakhena.
“In the 70s you had the first set of players like Thompson Onibokun, Lawrence Awopega, Kehinde Ajayi and Yemisi Alake.
“Then you had in the second set the likes of Nduka Odizor, David Imonite, Ola Ogunrinde. I was in the third set; and in the fourth set you had Sule Ladipo who represented Nigeria in the 1996 Olympics.
“Since then tennis has been steadily going down. The programs which produced great players is no longer there, We don’t have a deliberate plan. There are a lot of challenges facing players and coaches.”
He urged the Nigeria Tennis Federation to consult with players who represented the country in the past so that there can be a discussion on strategy and mobilisation for development of the sport especially in funding and sponsorship.
Abdullahi who began his tennis oddesey as a ball boy at the Lagos Tennis Club said private concerns and government at levels must be involved, adding that the tennis federation should be encouraging states associations to kickstart development in their locality.
“It takes commitment, funding, coaching and motivation to get things started.
“We can have every State producing two players each that is one boy one girl. It wouldn’t be a big deal getting this done.
“So at the end of the day, we would have gotten 36 players we can hold on to. It takes seven to 10 years to produce a tennis champion. We can discover at five, six or seven years and have these talents on planned program as it is the global practice.”
He added that government and individuals can invest in facilities so that in every nook and cranny of the country there is a tennis court and other sports facilities on ground.
“Politicians as part of their constituency projects can build tennis or basketball courts.
“Schools should have courts, in every local government and community there has to be a court where these kids can be trained basically.”
He noted that coaches should also be trained and updated. This according to Adullahi can be obtainable by having an umbrella body that will ensure that coaches are not left behind in the development plan.
He disclosed that in the nearest future he would be shipping in container loads of donated tennis equipment. He enjoined Nigerians to also donated whatever piece of tennis equipment they can so that more kids would be covered in his developmental drive for Nigerian tennis.
