Globally, sports is a big business that creates employment for youths, as well as boosts the image of a nation, apart from the revenue it generates. But in the last two decades, Nigeria has not aligned with this fact, such that successive governments have always appointed unqualified individuals to preside over the sector. OLALEKAN OKUSAN writes that for President Goodluck Jonathan to succeed in curbing unemployment through sports, he must pay quality attention to the sector so that youths in the country could tap from its great opportunities to better their lot, as well as bring glory to the nation.WHEN Amos Adamu was the director-general (DG) of the National Sports Commission (NSC), many people believed - rightly or wrongly - that he was the architect of the problems in Nigerian sports. Adamu has since left the scene as head of the sector, paving way for former national team footballer, Patrick Ekeji.The emergence of Ekeji as NSC DG was greeted with a lot of optimism on the expected new lease of life for sports, but since then events have shown that the problems go beyond the personality in charge of the sector. The situation has not been helped by the choice of ministers of sports, who in most cases barely found their feet in office before they were removed from office.At various times, there had been the clamour for the appointment of sports technocrats to head the sector, but it seems that the Nigerian government never sees sports as a tool to drive the economy, and because of that, most often it pushes the responsibility to those who know next to nothing about sports.It is pathetic that despite the country's large population, which many see as step to excellence in sports, Nigeria still plays second fiddle to nations like South Africa, Kenya, Botswana and Ethiopia, among other African nations, when it comes to international sporting events.In his recent article in The Nation newspaper,Prof. Emmanuel Ojeme' 'of the University of Benin wrote that despite being a vital instrument of nation-building, sports in Nigeria was running on low current with declining fortunes, and this was a high voltage sector which contributions to nation-building through sterling performances of the youths made everyone proud.National President of the Nigeria Association for Physical, Health Education, Recreation, Sports and Dance (NAPHER-SD) said that in recent times, the downturn of sports in Nigeria has been signposted by the poor showing in continental and international competitions. According to Ojeme, 'first, it has to be well understood that governments at all levels constitute the guarantor for sports development as in the other sectors.'Introspectively, therefore, are Nigerian governments at all levels squaring up combatively to lift up sports' Are government agencies established for Sports development, coping effectively' Do Governments at all levels make the kind of budgetary provisions that a giant of Africa would need to lift and inspire youths to go for gold in world competitions' Have governments at all levels professionalised sports management''In some government sports agencies, you still find officers without sports professional education and training serving as heads of sports departments. So how do such people effectively run programmes and make decisions that can productively impact sports in terms of performance.'The don added: 'At the state and local council levels, sports is largely tied to the onset of the National Sports Festival. Developmental sports programmes are anemic. A strong developmental sports framework is the bedrock of sports prowess at the national and in turn international levels.'To worsen matters, some of the athletes who trickle to national sports federations are not usually prepared effectively by the federations to represent Nigeria due to budgetary constraints. In fact, many sports federations are unable to effectively represent Nigeria in international competitions.'Our story, therefore, is lack of functional and effective linkage between the bottom layer of sports activities and the top and the incapacitation of federations to run their programmes and effectively participate in high profile competitions. Yet, we will be required to take national contingents to big-time tournaments and championships.'To Ojeme, for sports to thrive, the government's input is key: 'I believe that governments at all levels, first of all, must demonstrate absolute will-power to develop sports. I am personally not so sure if this is happening in Nigeria. But if Nigeria is going to show to the world in future that it has become a member of the club of 20 richest nations, sports remains a potent factor.'Korea and China have hosted the Olympic Games when they did, partly to show the world their new status in the comity of nations, using sports as instrument. Conversely, the continuing poor performance of our athletes in global sports events, believe it or not, tells our story beyond the sports field.'A prosperous nation is also a sporting nation. Don't you think so' If our athletes prove their mettle on the global stage, it says something about Nigeria beyond the shining medals with which they are decorated. It says something about our competitiveness, good governance and productivity of our nation. The benefits of superior athleticism to a nation are inestimable.'Disturbed by the continued dwindling fortunes of sports, Human Rights activist, Ayo Obe, wrote recently that sports was a major determinant to know whether President Jonathan was really serious about bringing 'transformative change' to Nigeria.Few months after Obe's article, the performance of Team Nigeria at the just concluded All Africa Games in Mozambique showed that Jonathan's transformation agenda is a mirage. She, however, queried the huge amount of money spent on football to the detriment of other sports.'Much resources in sports is devoted to football. With much the same lack of sustained, positive results,' Obe noted. 'Huge sums are allocated, but at ground level it is poor or no performance, disappearance of raw cash and a superstructure of cheating, and the footballer forced to subscribe to a false age or the long-jumper abandoned to negotiate the minefield of international sports drug testing alone.'Even the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which is in charge of football, has been engulfed in series of problems that have continued to set the game backward. Taking a cue from other nations, Ojeme said: 'Unlike other counties of the world where sports has taken its rightful place, educational institutions in Nigeria are known to be lukewarm about sports from primary to tertiary levels.'These institutions, which constitute the source of socio-cultural development of youths, have not been effective sources of supply of skilled athletes for Nigeria. The chronic severance of educational institutions from the sporting grid of Nigeria is a major setback to the actualisation of our desired sports performance standard at the world stage.'There are many Usain Bolts in our educational system waiting to be discovered and nurtured. This is possible with the teaching of physical education and sports through a sports-designed curriculum and competitive sports programmes. It also means that basic sports facilities must be provided in primary and secondary schools.'It further means that universities and other higher institutions must shape up to develop athletes emerging from the lower levels of schooling. This is not happening to any meaningful extent at the moment. This illustration of the impotence of educational institutions is a poor link in the production chain of competent athletes in Nigeria.'But Obe counselled Jonathan, saying: ' To people with short memories anyway, but if that is to be a taste of better things to come, we need a sports minister who is more than just a 'federal character' slotted in to prevent him messing up anything important.'Who will stop 'interfering' with taxpayers' money in sports associations that claim independence' Who will take the sector by the scruff of its neck and really shake it up and out of its hand-out-palm-up complacency' Who can soothe away the pains of political division by grooming athletes we can all get behind, and give us a sporting chance at winning some victories we can all cheer''The current Sports Minister and NSC Chairman, Yusuf Suleiman, exhibited his incapacity at the Maputo Games when he was expecting gold from some sports that have not received much support in recent time before the Games. To the chagrin of all present in Maputo, he ignorantly led high-power delegation to the final of the table tennis team event with the hope of seeing Nigeria claim two gold medals. But he was never told the truth that nothing good would come out of his presence.In the past, Nigeria used to sweep the seven gold medals in table tennis but the neglect of the sport, like others, has drawn the country back in the game. To his disappointment, Egypt with young players showed Nigeria that proper planning would surely yield good results and the North Africans carried the day.From this and all other things that transpired in Maputo, it has become clear that Suleiman does not have what it takes to take Nigerian sports to the next level. It is not because he is not a professional or seasoned sports administrator, but the truth is, after about three months, the man has not given any sign that he knows how to arrest the free-fall of Nigerian sports.Under the present administration, two transport ministers have been moved to sports ministry with the result being the same old story - failure. Ojeme, however, hopes that, 'Nigerian sports should fall no more. It is now time to pull our sports in the upward direction.'To achieve this goal, all institutions connected to sports must work towards eliciting quality performances at the world stage. Quality performances at the world stage can be achieved by a reinforcement of the domestic institutions that impact on sports. It is the low interface of these institutions that has largely brought sports in Nigeria to its knees.'It is my belief that the hisses and tears we experience at home and abroad due to poor performances of our athletes and the consequent unfulfilled expectations can disappear if these institutions complimentarily pull together in the productive management of sports in Nigeria.
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