BREAKING NEWS, Sports
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SOLOMON Selcap Dalung, minister of Youth and Sports Development, has expressed happiness over the enthusiasm shown by the private sector to participate in the planned reforms of the sports sector.
Receiving Vincent Onome Akpotaire, acting director-general of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, who led management staff of the Bureau on a courtesy visit to the minister on Tuesday, March 8, Dalung said the ministry had received offers from many investors in that regard.
He called on private investors to take advantage of the proposed sports reforms to invest in the sector as not doing so would result in “investing in criminality” as the teeming idle Nigerian youth would have no vocations to turn to, but take to crime.
The minister informed the BPE team that to fast track the reforms in the sports sector, he had resurrected the Project Advisory Team, PAT, earlier set up for the purpose and that once the team submitted its report, it would be subjected to due process and professional touch.
Dalung described sports in Nigeria as servicing sports tradition that responds to needs and challenges on ad-hoc basis which serves only the individuals and not the country. He cited instances where sportsmen and women were hurriedly brought together for competitions after which they were allowed to wither away. He said Nigeria could not continue with the ad-hoc approach to the issues of fixing the sports sector.
He expressed the determination and political will of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to reform the sports sector and noted that the BPE would be cardinal partners as the engine room for reforms. Dalung said he was “aware of efforts in the past which suffered some setback due to lack of political will to move the sector forward”, and admonished that “we should not be discouraged by past frustration.” He said the renewed determination and political will could not be compromised.
Citing sports as a veritable tool for development, determinant of national integration, tourism earner and foreign relations tool, the minister said any investment in the sector would guarantee sustainability.
On the merging of the National Sports Commission, NSC, with the ministry and the scrapping of the office of the director-general of the commission, Dalung said it was a presidential directive and that creation of the NSC had no legal backing.
Earlier, Akpotaire had informed the minister that the federal government had drawn up the roadmap to reform the sports sector but the efforts were stalled.
Akpotaire decried decayed sports infrastructure across the country for a sector that could have guaranteed sustainable income stream for the country and still be able to maintain facilities. He said stadia would be focal point in many cities across the world to generate multiple income streams with quality management in place.
He informed the minister that approval was obtained to concession the Abuja National Stadium and the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos but this never materialised. He urged the minister to take a new initiative to actualise the concession of the two stadia.
— Mar 9, 2016 @ 17:15 GMT
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