The Chairman National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko has assured that the present leadership of Sports in the country will run an open door policy to allow stakeholders in the sector contribute meaningfully to development of sports for job creation in the country.
The Chairman gave the assurance Tuesday in his office, during a visit by members of the National Association of Physical and Health Education Recreation Sports and Dance NAPHERSD led by their President, Professor Florence Bola Adeyanju in his office at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja.
Dikko stated that in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration, the Commission has a clear mandate to restructure Nigeria’s sports ecosystem to provide jobs and contribute to the economic growth of the country.
He said “We thank the President for getting the National Sports Commission rolling, with a clear mandate to restructure the sports ecosystem and most importantly, activate and nurture the benefits of sports economy in the country, which is basically part of the Renewed Hope Agenda.”
The Chairman noted that all over the word sports have gone beyond counting medals, but how many people are feeding from it and Nigeria will not be left behind as there are so many industries in the country that could key-into sports and potentially create jobs for our teeming Youths in the process.
Dikko disclosed that the commission under his watch is currently engaging with the Ministry of Education and TETFUND to put inplace school sports and training as the foundation through which sports can be developed for job creation and economic growth which can also be used to curb youth restiveness and bring about improved security in the country.
He commended members of NAPHERSD Organisation for their Role in seeing to the emergence of the Commission and their suggestions on the way forward as contained in their written submission. He promised to study the Witten submission with a view to marrying to some of its provisions into the implementation framework of the Commission.
The Chairman stated further that though the Commission has been set, a lot of measures are being put in place “To get the bill set for the framework that will see to the proper running of the commission most especially in areas of dispute resolution as well as declaring sports a national assets.”
The Bill he said will set up the National Sports Development Fund which to achieve seamless flow of revenue both from private and public sectors as practiced globally, to be able to have a sustainable process of getting sports funding issue resolved permanently.
Earlier in her speech, the President of NAPHERSD Organisation Professor Florence Bola Adeyanju stated that the establishment of the National Sports Commission was a collective effort for sports development in the country.” We could rightly say that the National Sports Commission Act 2023 is a product of our collective struggle for sports development in Nigeria, and we are committed to making it (the Commission) successful.”
While commending the Chairman on his efforts to get the commission rolling, Professor Adeyanju urged him to intensify training of sport officers, pay attention to grassroots sports development, athletes welfare and motivation, and as well ensure that professionalism and competence are put into consideration during appointment and posting into Sports Federations.
Signed
Mrs. Kehinde Ajayi
Director Information and PR.
