BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

It is over two weeks now since the return of the National Sports Commission (NSC) as the apex sports governing body of Nigeria. Beyond the naming of Shehu Dikko as the Chairman, nothing more has been made public regarding the role of the NSC and its composition.

In simple terms, what has happened so far is a mere change of nomenclature from the Federal Ministry of Sports Development to the National Sports Commission. Beyond that, Sports organisation in the country have been downgraded as the man at the apex cannot sit at the weekly Federal Executive Council since is not a cabinet-ranked administrator.

Beyond that, the leadership of sports organisation is reduced to that of sole administrator since there is no board or board members as it was when there were extant laws setting up the NSC.

Such laws included the Decree 34 of 1971 and the amended version, Decree 34 of 1979. Those laws spelt out the roles and mode of composition of the National Sports Commission.

For instance, Decree 34 of 1971 established the NSC as a replacement for the National Sports Council, which was previously a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Labour.

It did not stand in isolation. It worked under a commissioner *now a minister in the current dispensation). It had at the apex, a chairman overseeing a board with a well-defined composition.    Also, there was an Executive Committee, of which the NSC Charman is the head.

The composition of both the NSC and its executive committee was well articulated. So also, were their roles. Within the NSC, was also another board, the National Stadia Management Board which the NSC Chairman heads.

 Others include the commission’s secretary and five other members drawn from the NSC.

 Like what happens in present-day Morocco, where most of the kingdom’s owned stadiums are being kept in good condition by the state-run company, Société nationale de réalisation et de gestion des stades (SONARGES) which in English translates to National stadium construction and management company., the stadia management board in the previous NSC was charged with that same responsibility of maintenance.

As it is now, a chairman has been named for the NSC. Without a board, he becomes a sole administrator and will rule according to his understandings as the public has not been informed of any specific assignment for the chairman.

The ideal would have been the establishment of a board for the NSC and mode of composition well laid out as were the  instances with the Decree 34 of 1971 and the amended version of 1979 – Decree 34 of 1979.

Whatever the situation, the NSC deserves to have a minister of cabinet ranking for direct liaison with the Federal Government. Alternatively, the chairman should be upgraded to the ministerial position and supervision a board that will be an upgrade of the ones stipulated in the decrees 34 of 1971 and 1979.

With the Decree 7 of 1991dissolving the NSC, the nation appears to have lost track of the essence of the commission. Even when it was brought back under later regimes, it was just another nomenclature for the sports ministry as the NSC existed without a board.

Changing names from Ministry to Commission will not necessarily translate to getting improvement in sports administration.  An NSC in the present situation is just a substitute to the Ministry of Sports. It is not an alternative.

Newly appointed Chairman of the National Sports Commission NSC, Shehu Dikko says Nigeria’s journey towards a sustainable sports economy has begun.

He stated this when the former Minister of Sports, John Enoh officially handed over the affairs of the country’s sports to him in a brief ceremony in Abuja.

History is on my side

“History has a way of coming full circle because in 2008 I was a consultant to the House of Representatives and was responsible for the drafting of the National Sports Commission Bill, a job I did pro-bono and about 16 years down the line I have here with the assignment to implement the work I assisted to put together”.

” The objective of Mr President is to harness the full potential of the Sports Economy in Nigeria.

“And we have to first change our mindset from the fixation of just competitions and winning medals and come back and fix our domestic sports development”.

“When we set the foundation right the results and the winning of medals will naturally come sustainably and that should be the new mindset”.

“We cannot continue to run in cycles so we need to have a different approach from day one because in my view and indeed the firm view of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, competition is what we call  “Consumption” because we just take scarce resources and burn out abroad without any impact on the domestic sports development ecosystem and the Nigerian Economy.

” But we have to go back to “Production” which is deliberate sports development, where we set the structure right, set the framework and put together good parameters to have a sustainable sports development which will naturally give us a solid sports economy and indeed guaranteed competitive participation at all competitions and medals.

Three Pillars

” This is the reason why our administration will be focused on three pillars including running Sports as a National Asset, that is entitled to special privileges, regulations and concessions to drive growth and development to open its potential to be a key driver of the economy across all sectors, a vehicle for achieving national cohesion and projection of the positive and unique attributes of our culture and national identity “.

” We have to also work on legislations and regulations to set the framework to enable the Industry to grow effectively like what happened in the communications industry some years back”.

” The other pillar is investing in purposeful world-class infrastructures that will provide an enabling environment for Growth.

“These infrastructures must be deliberate with maintenance culture and span from world-class infrastructure for professional sports to community infrastructure to drive grassroots sports and mass participation across the country”

” The thinking of Mr President is  that after  having some of all these in place we should be able to  measure the Country’s Sports by its contribution to the nation’s GDP by at least three per cent (3%)  addition via sports and the number of jobs sports and its value chain are providing in the country in the next  four to five years and indeed our competitiveness across all competitions and tournaments”

“Thus, it’s a visionary  decision for Mr President to approve the return of the National Sports Commission to drive this  process and objectives in line with the best international practices and standards devoid of any bureaucratic bottlenecks but absolute professionalism”

Dikko concluded by outlining some of the immediate action points to drive the agenda and the mandate which includes but is not limited to the structural organization of the National Sports Commission (NSC).

The essence is to position the NSC to implement the desired policies and framework envisaged.

According to Dikko, it is to facilitate private sector participation in the sector through investment in sports production and infrastructure development.

He also outlined the restructuring and capacity-building initiatives of the sports federations for optimal performance.

Also on his agenda is the engagement of competent personnel and partners to deliver on the mandate.

This will involve policy development by putting together strategies, policies and legislations to protect and support sports development in the country.

He promised to ensure that the NSC seamlessly assume the assets and liabilities from the defunct Federal Ministry of Sports; and most critically commence the process to amend/update the NSC Act to align with international best practices, creating a professional governance framework, resolve the funding challenges of sports in Nigeria and provide the enabling environment to drive Mr President vision to create a sustainable sports economy in Nigeria.

The immediate-past President of Nigeria Football Federation and Nigeria’s FIFA Council Member, Amaju Melvin Pinnick, will add another feather to his cap when he delivers this year’s Personality Guest Lecture of the Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan on Tuesday.

Pinnick, who is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football, will address the very germane topic of sport infrastructure, as he speaks on The Challenges of Sports Infrastructure and Maintenance In Nigeria: Prospect for Podium Performance.

The Dean of the Faculty, Professor Olufemi Adegbesan, said Pinnick, who is also a holder of the traditional honour of Royal Order of Iwere (ROI) was chosen for the honour based on his vast experience in sports administration and management, his broad worldview of the problems of sport infrastructure and maintenance, and his passion for youth empowerment through well-maintained infrastructure to discover and nurture budding talents.

“The Personality Guest Lecture is a part of the town-gown synergy of the University of Ibadan, the premier university. The Faculty of Education is desirous of contributing its quota to the development of Nigerian society through organizing personality lectures to discuss issues affecting the Nigerian economy.

“Our guest lecturer, Mr. Amaju Pinnick, has the resume to present the lecture having been at the top in sports management and administration nationally and internationally. The personality lecture offers a forum where individuals with proven track records of hard work, service to humanity and excellence in their chosen careers interface with a large audience comprising the youth, members of the academic community, stakeholders in the public and private sectors, and the general public.”

Tuesday’s lecture will hold at the Trenchard Hall of Nigeria’s first university and will commence at 11am.

The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Kayode Adebowale will lead the top echelon of the foremost citadel of learning to the event, with the sports community also well-represented. Newly-appointed Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Shehu Dikko will lead the crew that will include President of NFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi and NFF Director of Media and Communications, Dr Ademola Olajire. Pinnick’s business associates and jet-set friends will also be there in numbers.  

n board and dig our feet into the ground against the Falcons on Tuesday.”