The re-establishment of the Nigeria Sports Commission (NSC) has been welcomed by various stakeholders in the nations sport, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is upbeat about the new prospects for the growth of the sector, even as he has expressed implicit confidence in the competence and capacity of the NSC leadership, Shehu Dikko, the Chairman, and the DG, Bukola Olapade, to deliver.
In the past few weeks, the duo have been rejigging the direction and framework of our sports to Reset, Refocus and Relaunch the sector as a veritable asset for national development, and with more professional administration and management.
As has been revealed by Shehu Dikko, “the strategic approach of the Renewed Hope Agenda and Shared Prosperity aims to establish sports as a vital pillar of Nigeria’s economy and a unifying factor for national development.”
The repositioning covers the entire sports eco-system with the target of improving on sports infrastructure across the country, eliciting mass participation, greater and more gainful youth engagement, generation of about three million direct, indirect and induced jobs, attainment of about 5% share in global sports export, attraction of foreign direct investments and foreign exchange earnings, and provision of an enabling environment for private sector participation and investments to compliment Government efforts. The target is to steer the sports sector to contribute about 3% to the National Gross Domestic Product and for our national teams to achieve more respectable podium finish in international competitions.
The strategies include institutional repositioning through the restructuring of the sports sector framework, already began with the establishment of the NSC and the ongoing upscaling of the establishing Act to meet global best practices as an enabler for sustainable growth, the restructuring of the sports federations for greater efficiency and effectiveness, and the deepening of Grassroots and Schools Sport to strengthen the foundation of the sector through wider access to sports for the discovery, nurturing and grooming of elite athletes.
The goal is ambitious, bold and daring. It is taking the road less travelled, but the strategies already outlined by the NSC gives assurance of its attainment as it is deliberate and focused.
The most critical success factor, perhaps, is the will of the Government under the overall vision of the Renewed Hope Agenda to take sports more seriously than before, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, with his natural boldness and vision for the future, has served notice of his willingness, not only by the reclassification of sports as a national asset and critical driver of economic development, national cohesion and image building, but especially also with the deliberate capital allocation of over N78 billion to sports in the 2025 Budget proposal, the highest in about 60 years.
The proposed budget is directed at accelerating sports development and growth through the establishment, construction, reconstruction and revival of various capital and critical sports assets as well as programs to set the foundation of a robust and virile sports economy in Nigeria .
These include the full rehabilitation of the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja, to set the framework for its eventual concession and transformation to a sports city, together with the completion of its 200 room Athletes’ Hostel, abandoned for over 15 years, but which now will be commercialized after it’s completion to rake in revenue.
The reset programme also includes the rehabilitation of various other Federal Government stadiums across the country, the construction of mini sports centres across various communities; the construction and equipping of the High Performance Centre in Abuja; the rehabilitation and upgrade of the Sports Hospital/Clinic which also would be commercialized and open to the public; and the development and equipment of a world class Anti-Doping Laboratory intended to rake in foreign exchange to reverse capital flight, as the nation and most of African countries currently take samples overseas for analysis.
Interesting also is, in addition to normal budget line for sporting activities, there is now a specific and separate budget line to take care of preparations for events like the Olympics, Commonwealth, African Games, World and Continental Championships, the Paralympic and other Para-Sports competitions, the World Cup and AFCON qualifiers and support for NUGA Games, School Sports and others.
Added to this is a deliberate reserve budget line for international competitions in the service wide vote for the participation of national teams in international competitions. This means that when Team Nigeria qualifies to any international event, funding would be drawn from the vote, as against the old fire brigade approach of having to start seeking for funds after each qualification.
The agenda also includes the provision of funding support for the stabilisation of sports federations, and part of the strategy is the acquisition of sports contents from the federations for production, aggregation and monetization. This will also entail the setting up, equipment and training of personnel for the operation of a sports media production unit.
The scope of work is wide, deep and challenging, but it is the ultimate game changer we have craved, and it is reassuring that the NSC also understands the need and has plans to recruit and train more hands to cascade its operations across the geographical zones, states and local governments.
With President Tinubu having set the agenda and demonstrated willingness, and the vision and direction now clearly articulated by the leadership of the NSC, the next critical success factor is the support of the citizenry, especially the sports and corporate communities, by joining hands in making our bed how we would want to lie on it.
