A patron of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, has given the Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Akin Dare, a pass mark for achievements made in the sports sector in his three years in office.
Speaking to Daily Trust yesterday, the veteran sports administrator said the minister through hard work and dedication to duty, has impacted positively on the sports sector and deserves to be commended.
Galadima said the major highlight of Dare’s reign as sports minister was the recent historic feat by Team Nigeria in Birmingham where Nigeria posted her best performance in the Commonwealth Games winning 12 gold, 9 silver and 14 bronze for a total of 35 medals.
He also said before now, Nigeria had broken a 13-year record with silver and bronze medals at the Tokyo Olympics while also winning four gold, one silver and seven bronze medals at the Tokyo Paralympics Games.
Galadima noted that these achievements and many others were made possible by the minister’s initiatives like the adopt-an-athlete initiative, which has provided scholarships and sponsorships for over 45 upcoming and elite athletes; adopt a facility initiative for rejuvenation of sports facilities; resuscitation of the once moribund National Principals’ Cup; reclassification of sports as a business and enhanced welfare for the athletes.
He, however, said the minister must do more in the areas of support for sports federations as well as give more attention to grassroots sports development.
“The turnover of ministers in the sports ministry has been quite high over the years but he has been fortunate to have three years to achieve some remarkable results.
“ But there have been ups and downs with sports federations complaining of nonrelease of funds and inability to organize more competitions at the grassroots.
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