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NIGERIA: MINISTRY OF YOUTH AND SPORTS DEVELOPMENT WILL SCALE UP YOUTH PROGRAMMES

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Nigeria’s Minister of Youth and Sport Development, Sunday Dare, has assured that the Ministry will build on the capacity of programmes already earmarked for the youth and scale them up to reach more beneficiaries in pursuit of government’s objective of employment and wealth creation. 

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The Minister, who addressed participants of N-Power Software at the Public Service Institute of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday during a working visit, promised that opportunities to be created from such expanded programmes will be accessible to all interested youth. 

He said, “One of the plans we have is DY.NG; it is a plan to train our youth to make them employable. The ministry will partner with this programme (N-Power Software) to make sure that we ratchet up this programme. So that in the coming year we can reach more of you in the thousands.  

“We would build on the capacity of the programmes already earmarked for the youth. We will not reinvent the wheel.

“The Ministry will be able to bring several of your colleagues to benefit. We have youth centres spread across the country that we will use to achieve this.”  

To further explain, Mr. Dare said, “It will be a transparent system because there will be a digital footprint. Wherever you are in this country, you have the opportunity to access whatever programme there are for youth in this country.” 

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The Minister expressed delight at N-Power Software organised by the Presidency, saying the youth were on their way to being part of the digital wealth economy of the 21st century.

He also said that part of the mandate handed down to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development was to create opportunities for young people to plug into the opportunities of the 21st century.  

Mr. Dare urged the selected 2000 to count themselves lucky and work hard to achieve the set objectives of the program, while adding that the digital skill gap in Nigeria provides an added advantage for them to get jobs after the training.

He also intimated on the Ministry’s plans for the youth, part of which is to help 500,000 young people acquire digital skills in two years, create an avenue for them to get access to information for opportunities through an online platform, among others.  

While addressing the media after the event, the Minister said, “I am excited at what I have seen today. It forms part of the larger vision. The President says to keep the youth busy in whatever way, but especially, there’s a commitment to providing them with digital skills. What is happening here today, 2000 youth from across the North will be here for three months, and will be equipped with digital skills to self-start themselves.” 

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He said that the program will be replicated across the states with the Federal Government as the driver, providing encouragement for the state governments to embark on similar programs like the one in Abuja.  

The Minister, while further highlighting the benefits of the program, said, it has first succeeded in taking the 2000 number of young people away from social vices like drug abuse, kidnapping and the likes among other benefits.  

He promised that the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development would support the program to ensure that more youth have access to the digital skills needed for in contemporary time.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Governing Bodies

Sanusi set for record-extending tenure as Nigeria’s football politicians assemble in Asaba

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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Speculations gathered ahead of the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Nigeria Football Federation holding in Asaba on Friday have it that tenure elongation for the General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, is a major item on the agenda.

Neither formal confirmation nor denial has been issued since one of the leading newspapers in Nigeria, ThisDay dropped the hint.  

 The agenda of the meeting is also not made public. Dr, Sanusi is the longest-serving General Secretary in history having been in office from 30 March 2015 making 3,476 days or nine years six months and four days.

It easily drowned that of his closest rival in tenure – Sani Toro whose tenure from 21 December 1993 to 3 May  1999 is merely 2020 days or five years, six months and 12 days.

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 Thus, no one had enjoyed a longer period in office than the incumbent, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi.  It is speculated that the tenure will be extended as NFF has reported that all delegates have arrived in the Delta State capital by Thursday evening.

The NFF Annual General Assembly, the first of which took place 90 years ago in Lagos on 19 February 1934, is the biggest assemblage of football administrators and stakeholders in the country.

In one such meeting on 24 July 2008 in Makurdi, the football body changed its name from NFA to NFF.

This year, according to a press release by the NFF, the plenary will have in attendance, the chairmen and secretaries of football associations in the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory, chairmen and secretaries of the Nigeria Premier Football League, Nigeria National League, Nigeria Women Football League and the Nationwide League One, as well as chairmen and secretaries of the referees’ association, players’ union and coaches’ association. This group of 88 makes up the Congress.

 They are joined by the members of the NFF Executive Committee and the management team as well as former NFF Presidents and General Secretaries.

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The Minister of Sports Development, John Owan Enoh, is announced as the special guest. Nigeria’s Member of the FIFA Council, Amaju Melvin Pinnick is also expected as well as a representative of the West African Football Union (WAFU B).

The Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Francis Oborevwori will declare the General Assembly open. 

Venue is the Unity Hall of the Delta State Government House.

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Like in Egypt, former Nigerian Olympian, Sadiq Abdulahi wants Tinubu to declare ‘State of Emergency’ in Sports

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Former Nigerian tennis player and Olympian, Prof. Sadiq Abdulahi has called for drastic action to arrest the decline of Nigeria in global sporting events.

  The former tennis player who is now a professor in the United States declared that the “failure to win a medal at the regular 2024 Paris Olympics, the few medals at the Paris Paralympic and the fallout at the National Youth Sports Festival has exposed the deep problems facing the sport’s sector.”

  He wants Nigeria to have the same approach that the Egyptian president has taken while reacting to the country’s performance at the Paris 2024 Olypics.

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered  a comprehensive evaluation of sports federations that  participated at the Paris Olympic Games, following a mission report submitted by the country’s sports minister.

 According to Prof. Abdulahi, the National Sports Federations charged with the preparation of elite athletes have failed to do their job despite the cry for funding from the government.

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“Federal Government cannot adequately fund all the Olympics sports. It is impossible.

“By declaring a state of emergency, new people, new approaches and new funding models will be identified. More importantly, the Federal Government will redefine grassroots sports development.

“We will lay sustainable foundation for sports development.”

Continuing, he called for the return of the National Sports Commission (NSC) which enabling decree was abolished through Decree No. 7 of 1991, but came back through presidential proclamation under Sani Abacha before it was abolished again.

 The original NSC was established in 1964 as National Sports Council before the promulgation of Decree 34 of 1971 which legalised it as  the apex Federal Government agency to control, regulate and organize sports.

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  “The FG may now bring back the National Sports Commission or the National Sports Authority. Our emerging national economy with the full participation of the private sector can support this new beginning. I hope this helps.” 

RELATED STORY: President Al-Sisi orders sports system overhaul

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Governing Bodies

CAF gives Yoruba and Arabic interpretations of  ‘OLA’ the Super Cup 2024 Official Match Ball

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The Confédération African of Football, CAF, has given the linguistics interpretation of OLA, the confederation’s official match balls produced by Puma which has also unveiled a special edition for the Super Cup duel holding on Friday in Saudi Arabia.

According to CAF, OLA, symbolizing the dynamic and energetic nature of African football, means “wealth,” “honour,” and “respect” in Yoruba and “rise” and “success” in Arabic.

The OLA ball stands out with its vibrant design and cultural significance. “OLA” 

The ball is a mix of black and gold, representing power and sophistication. The ball will be the centrepiece of the eagerly-awaited match between the two giants of African football.

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