- Home
- /
- Entertainment
- /
- Sports
- /
- We’re in race against...
We’re in race against time to develop sports in Nigeria – Dikko
The Chairman of National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko, says the newly appointed management of the commission is in a race against time to develop sports in Nigeria.
Dikko made the statement in an interview with the news men in Lagos, on the sidelines of the 9th Convocation Ceremony and 50th Anniversary of the prestigious National Institute of Sports (NIS).
NAN reports that NIS, the nation’s foremost sports institution, concluded its 50th anniversary celebration on Thursday, with a convocation ceremony of no fewer than 992 graduands comprising of 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 sets.
The ceremony, which held at the Multi Purpose Hall, National Institute of Sports (NIS), National Stadium, Surulere Lagos State, attracted several dignitaries including a former governor of Plateau, Simon Lalong and NSC Chairman, Dikko among others.
Dikko told NAN that there was an urgent need to move sports from where it was to another level where it could make more positive impacts on the economy.
“It is a graduation of students after two to three years of training and it is quite exciting to be here.
“I am happy that the NIS is coming back to life after much improvement.
“We are also here to see the progress and what we can do to support or assist to make it better as member of the council and as a visitor, since we are getting more hands to come and join us in the campaign to restructure sports in Nigeria.
“In other to achieve the short term goal, we are working on the infrastructure, to be able to train the athletes to their capacity.
“We want to see how we can deliver as quickly as possible because we are racing against time. Our sports need that urgent attention, support and framework to make it happen,” he said.
Dikko said that work had started in earnest to reposition sports in Nigeria to an enviable status.
“We have started with the building blocks, which means starting from the foundation, correct the mistakes.
“To pull a structure down takes little effort, but to build takes a longer and more concerted efforts. We have taken the bold decision to go back and start building from the foundation.
“We need to enact good framework so that our sports will be successful, sustainable and efficient,” he said.
Earlier in his opening speech on repositioning of NIS, Dikko promised that NSC would work more closely with the traditional institution in training Nigerian athletes, coaches and administrators.
“What we are doing today is not just about celebrating the graduands, but celebration of important milestone of sports development which is the NIS 50th anniversary.
“The D-G of NIS and his management team are trying all within their power to get NIS back to what it used to be, the NIS over the years has gone a little bit off the road.
“With the intervention of the former Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, he was able to get the institution back to get NIS back on track.
“Now, we have been seeing the results with the turnaround of the sports institute but there is still a lot to be done in putting it in the right direction,” he said.
Dikko added: “I am also impressed with the partnerships that was signed by NIS with the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC) to train its grassroots coaches, which will contribute a lot to the grassroots development of football.
“We want other sports as well and not just football alone, we want it across all sports.
“President Tinubu has taken a bold decision to restructure sports with the advent of the National Sports Commission (NIS) with a new mandate, we are honored to be part of this mandate, myself and the Director-General (D-G) of NIS, Bukola Olopade.
“We have the mandate to harness the reform sports which we now hinged on three pillars, refocus relaunch and reset mantra through the `Renewed Hope Initiative for Nigeria’s Sports Economy (RHINSE) Programme’.
“What we do in the tournament is basically consumption but if we now work to develop the talents, it will be basically production.
“In doing this, the NIS is important in giving us the quality and competence we need to have the production,” he said.
Dikko said part of the initiative to develop sports was to make the sector a fundamental contributor to the nation’s economy.
“When they are talking about economy anywhere in the country, sports should also be on that table, so that all of us involved in sports can contribute to the economy.
“The grassroots development of sports is also important and that is why we also have an SSA on Grassroots Sports Development to the president.
“What we want to achieve is to have sports contribute at least three per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the economy.
“We should be able to have like three million people engaged in all category of sports – both direct and indirect.
“We should be able to develop talents to dominate the global supply of talents across the world,” he said.
Dikko also added that President Tinubu had made the bold decision by naming sports as a national asset with all its legal framework.
“The President has also made a bold step of a financial support to sports in the budget; the first of its kind in many years. The idea is to put the sporting infrastructure in its right place and that is what we are working on.
“We have established some committees that will see to all of these mandates,” he said.
The D-G of NIS, Prof. Olawale Moronkola, said that the historic 50th celebration of the institution had brought back the memories of its outstanding achievement.
“We are part of the history to develop sports in Nigeria after many years of academic achievements in training our sportsmen and women in various chosen sports.
“The mandate is simple- training of the best hands to develop sports in Nigeria; which we will strive to improve upon and ensure that Nigeria does not lack good administrators to man sports,” he said.
One of the graduands, Agboola Glory, who completed a Diploma in Volleyball course, told news men that she was excited to return for another course in NIS after her first experience.
“I have the joy to come back and learn more about grassroots development of volleyball, which is my core competence.
“This time around, the focus is more on the development of volleyball at the grassroots.
“To be able to organise volleyball events all over Nigeria , not only in Lagos but across Nigeria. Volleyball appreciation in Nigeria is improving, so we need more hands,” she said.
A Swimming Coach, Funmilola Gandonu, news men that for her, the race to develop in swimming started after she got the NIS certification.
“Coming to the NIS is the height of my aspiration, to learn more on the development of sports especially in swimming.
“All the trainings have been provided by the NIS. It’s now our responsibility to translate them to actions to develop athletes.”
Also, a Football Coach, Adesewa Adegunwa, called for more female administrators and coaches in female football to make it more appealing to women.