The clamour for the return of the National Sports Commission (NSC), yielded fruit on Wednesday, October 23, when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu scrapped the Federal Ministry of Sports Development in a cabinet shakeup.
The president also appointed a marketing expert and renowned football administrator, Malam Shehu Dikko, as the chairman of the revived NSC.
Without any doubt, the return of the Commission which first came into existence in 1962, as the National Sports Council is said to have come at a time that sports in Nigeria is in dire need of policies that would reinvigorate the sector.
In most developed countries where sports is serious business, the sector is managed by technocrats for optimal results on the field and for revenue generation.
However, the same can’t be said about developing or third world countries like Nigeria where sports is still regarded as a recreation to be managed by people who are not experts in sports administration. This often happens when the sports ministry is in charge of the sector.
Therefore, each time Nigeria is underperforming in sports, calls for the return of the NSC echo around the country because most stakeholders believe in the power of sound sports technocrats to transform the sector.
Back-and-forth between NSC and sports ministry
The involvement of the government in sports began in 1962 with the establishment of the defunct National Sports Council (NSC), with the late Pa Abraham Ordia as secretary. It was domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Labour.
In 1971, the NSC was replaced with the National Sports Commission through the promulgation of Decree 34. And in 1975, the then military regime upgraded the Commission to a ministerial status and appointed a minister of cabinet rank to oversee the affairs of the ministry.
However, in 1991, the NSC re-emerged through a promulgation when it became a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports Development and was saddled with the responsibility of sports administration in the country.
After four years, the NSC was again scrapped as the Ministry of Sports and Social Development took over the role of the NSC. In another twist in 2007, the Ministry of Sports and Social Development was scrapped again and the NSC reinstated to handle sports development.
However, in 2016, then Minister of Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung, unilaterally scrapped the NSC. The resultant effect was the dismal performance of Team Nigeria at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Nigeria managed to win only one bronze medal in football. Expectedly, the lacklustre outing of Nigeria at the Rio Olympics elicited widespread condemnation of Dalung’s decision to scrap the NSC.
Clarion calls for restoration of NSC
Following the scrapping of the NSC by Dalung, the Ministry of Sports, which was usually supervised by politicians, took charge of the sector. As a result, the country’s performances in international competitions, especially the Olympics, continued to nose-dive. It was practically impossible for Team Nigeria to repeat the eye-catching performances at Atlanta ’96 Olympics, which returned with a historic two gold, one silver and three bronze medals.
With Alhaji Bolaji Abdullahi as the Minister of Sports, Team Nigeria recorded another barren outing at the London 2012 Olympics. And only recently, the Nigerian contingent to the Paris Olympics returned home empty handed. Senator John Enoh was the Minister of Sports.
In an earlier interview with Weekend Trust, octogenarian and patron of the Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC), Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, said “We cannot pretend that all is well with this important sector. We have not been able to live up to our potential in sports because of lack of clear vision and focus. In addition, different segments of sports are enveloped in one crisis or another.”
On his part, a sports administrator and former member of the House of Representatives, Lumumba Dah Adeh, said for the country to make appreciable progress in sports, there must be well articulated policies that would serve as a roadmap for those charged with the administration of the sector.
“We all know what is right, but not many people are willing to make sports the business that it should be. It is sad that despite its huge potential, the sector in Nigeria is still seen as mere recreation,” said Lumumba.
Gaiya, Yakmut hail return of NSC
A former member of the House of Representatives, Godfrey Ali Gaiya, said President Tinubu’s decision to bring back the NSC will save sports from needless bureaucratic bottlenecks.
In a chat with Weekend Trust, the former Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Sports said “It is a welcome development. Ideally, sports shouldn’t be run or governed as a bureaucracy. It should be kept from bottlenecks inherent in the civil service.
“I have advocated severally that sports is better managed as a privately driven enterprise, being a big business if properly managed.
“Government’s business in sports should be limited to regulation of the sector and supervision.
“I hope that this commission will come with its autonomy to run sports as it is in other climes and in tandem with international best practices.”
Gaiya also expressed confidence in the ability of the new chairman, Shehu Dikko, to revitalise the sports sector.
“Malam Shehu Dikko is an accomplished sports administrator. He has been there for a long period and he has garnered a lot of experiences.
“From his days as the NFF 2nd vice president, Chairman of LMC and so many other appointments in football, he has
proved that he knows the terrain. He is a good fit. In fact, a round peg in a round hole,” he said.
The last Director General of the NSC, Malam Alhassan Yakmut, also welcomed the return of the Commission even as he noted that so much damage had been done to the sector already.
However, he said now that the NSC has been reinstated, it shouldn’t be scrapped again.
“The NSC has been back-and-forth for about seven times in the lifetime of this country. I think I have been involved actively as either a victim or a beneficiary for about four times.
“But this last one that happened, I am saying, let it be the last time the commission is scrapped. The reason I am saying so is that technically, that is the structure that should exist perpetually because it has the sole responsibility for social development, technical development, physical development, psychological development of athletes, and also preparation of officiating officials and coaches.
“So, at any time the sports commission is scrapped, all those components of sports development suffer. Imagine in this modern time, the technical structure of sports has been suspended for over seven years. So, where do you start from? We are in a very fast world now and the competition is keen and also very scientific.
“However, it is never too late to do the right thing. Government has done the right thing to return the NSC but it should know that it has only started the right thing.
“The government should be able to round it off properly. The kind of technical crew that the NSC will assemble under the new Chairman will be important. There is a need for technocrats who will not take more than two days to address challenging technical issues to put us at par with other countries,” said Yakmut.
It’s too early to celebrate – Sani Toro
Despite the celebration among stakeholders over the return of NSC, a renowned sports administrator and former Secretary General of the then Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Alhaji Ahmed Sani Toro, has called for caution as he said the federal government is yet to clearly define the powers of the new Chairman.
He said if Dikko is made to report to either the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the office of the Chief of Staff to the President or the President himself, it would be difficult for him to perform optimally.
“People have been clamouring for the commission to be brought back but I asked, what would happen after that? If you scrap the ministry of sports, the sports commission would be answerable to who?
“Will it be answerable to the President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), or to the Chief of Staff? This has not been defined and it has to be cleared before we begin to celebrate.
“So let us wait and see what will happen in the coming days. If tomorrow the appointee is given executive powers or is made a member of the Federal Executive Council, then we would have made progress,” said the former member of the House of Representatives.
Furthermore, Toro advised the newly appointed chairman to consider revisiting the Vision 2020 document for sports development which was put together by some of the best brains in Nigerian sports.
“He should invite those who were members of the committee like Chief Patrick Ekeji, Chief Segun Odegbami, Mitchell Obi and a host of others who prepared a very comprehensive document which was accepted by the government that time. Unfortunately, nothing has been done about it,” said Toro.
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