‘We are no longer competition driven but we are focusing on the domestic development of our sports’: Dikko says Ogun 2025 NSF will be a test of Nigerian sports reforms
An Olympics-standard National Sports Festival in Abeokuta will be the true test of the ongoing reforms in the Nigerian sports sector.
These were the views of National Sports Commission Chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko while virtually delivering a keynote address at the opening ceremony of the Extraordinary National Council on Sports meeting in Abeokuta today from Milan Italy.
The NSC chairman is the chairman of the National Council on Sports which comprised all the Commissioners of Sports and Directors of Sports from across all the 36 States plus FCT and other stakeholders. It is the apex policy decision-making body for sports.
While hailing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR for the bold decision to scrap the Federal Ministry of Sports for the National Sports Commission and the deliberate and intentional decisions to advance sports, Mallam Dikko pointed out that this has set the tone for the reforms in the sector.
His words, “Mr. President is noted for taking very bold decisions. The decision to reintroduce the NSC was a very bold one and truly challenged us. The current status has placed sports as a national asset and the necessary legislations and regulations supporting the sector are being facilitated.
“We aligned with the President’s Renewed Hope and Shared prosperity agenda and came up with the Renewed Hope Initiative for Nigerian Sports Economy (RHINSE) to anchor the reforms agenda.
‘This has taken us to a road less-travelled. So we are no longer competition driven but we are focusing on the domestic development of our sports from the grassroots to the elite levels. Hence we have set the three Rs namely reset, refocus and relaunch as the key pillars.
“We are very deliberate with what we are doing. The private sector has to be more involved in our sports development; our infrastructure should be refurbished and upscaled while we must place more emphasis on grassroots and schools sports. We must focus on talent development.
‘If we get this right, we can generate immense revenue through the export of talents. The target is basically to make sports a huge contributor to the nation’s economy and one of its major drivers.”
Considering this, the importance of the National Council on Sports Extraordinary Meeting cannot be overemphasized.
“All these reforms mean that the National Council on Sports has to align appropriately and ensure that the 22nd National Sports Festival to be hosted by Abeokuta should be the best ever. We should host an Olympics-standard Festival that will set a benchmark for future editions”, he said.
