Nigerian sports in the last decade have gone through the worst stage and with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday releasing the list of ministerial nominees; sports stakeholders and enthusiasts are skeptical about the choice of the new sports minster.
In Europe, Asia and South America sports business is gradually turning the fortunes of these countries around, as it is seen as a major revenue driver, adding significantly to the GDP of these countries.
For Nigeria, a country of over 200 million people with about 55 percent youth population, sports hold huge prospects. Sports have been known to be a uniting factor in the country, defying ethnic, regional or political divides.
Nigerian sports industry over the years has seen decline from what it used to be in the early 80s and 90s.
Analysts say there should be a system in place to drive potential investors into Nigeria sports business.
Mitchel Obi, a veteran sports analyst, laments that the sports sector has remained dormant for decades and with decayed facilities lying waste, and urges the new minister to read up all literatures hindering the sector with a view of proffering solutions.
“Any sports minister who comes should spend one week on a retreat and read up all the literatures on the issues of Nigerian sports, understand the problems and the solutions that have been proffered over time.
“The next thing is to take an inventory of sports facilities in Nigeria and see how he can make these facilities working. For me, that is just one point agenda for the sports minister.
“The problems have been there since independence, we have had vision 2010 and 2020 master plan and till date nothing has changed,” he states.
He advises that the sports minister should use sports as an enabler or catalyst for meeting the agenda of the Federal Government.
“The Federal Government under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) should use sports as a catalyst or enabler to drive its political agenda to Nigerians; engage the youths, provide employment. Sports have the power to change the world,” he says.
As regards expectations, he opines that for Nigerian sport to attain the desired growth, the sports minister should have some traits that will help the sector.
“The minister must have the three C’s qualities: Competence, Character and Capacity, and the most important one is Courage. Without these qualities, it will be difficult for to attain the desired result.
“The beauty of the last four years is that we have had one minister in charge, but the ugliness is that these years have been a monumental disaster and a disservice to APC government, because they can not use sports to say they have met one basic objective, which they claim they want to do in Nigeria,” he says.
Speaking with BusinessDay, Sola Fijabi, director, Pace Sports and Entertainment, advises President Buhari to choose a competent minister to drive Nigerian sports to greater heights, as he speaks on the agenda Nigerians expect from the new sports minister.
“With the ministerial list released, I have not seen who is going to be the sports minister, maybe another set of list.
“The person should understand and appreciate the role sports play in uniting Nigeria, and the President appreciates that. That is the strongest potent point,” he says.
He adds that the sports ministry should be properly funded and attractive to private investors, noting that reforms, innovation and private sector partnership can only come if there is transparency in the sports ministry.
“He should ensure that there is public and private alignment to attract sponsorship and focus should be on grassroots’ sports development, because talents abound. We know what to do, but the will power to do it is a major challenge,” he states.
He further gave insight to qualities or attributes expected from the new sports.
“Innovation, courage and realise that Nigeria is way behind schedule in the world when it comes to sports administration and move very fast to catch up. The world is not waiting for us. He should also exploit opportunities and create conducive environment for sports to thrive.
“A lot of times, the sports ministry rely on government for funding to attend local and international competitions and often times these had hindered the performance of Nigerian teams. This challenge has crumbled Nigerian sports for over two decades,” he notes.
Over the years, investors have refused investing in sports and these has caused significant decline.
Speaking further on this, Fijabi advises the incoming minister to create a policy framework as a guide for investors and should source for funds from corporate bodies and not depend on government for funding.
“Somebody must have written a policy paper, the minister should take it up, rework it and pass it to the National Assembly.
“Engage the private sector, create enabling environment that will encourage the private sector to come in. If the policy and environment are right, private funds will come, because they will see value for their investment,” he states.
They all agreed that the sports minister role should be creating enabling environment, get the right policy and engage the right people.
Anthony Nlebem
