…NFF shuns federations meeting with NSC
From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Chairman of National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Shehu Dikko, has charged heads of sports federations in the country, to brace up for the challenges of repositioning the sports in line with the aspiration of the administration.
Dikko handed the warning on Tuesday in Abuja while addressing the federations heads during a one-day meeting with the Commission at the MKO Abiola National Stadium.
Surprisingly, while almost all the presidents and secretaries of the sports federations were fully in attendance, the heads of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) were conspicuously absent without any representation throughout the duration of the meeting.
Charging the federation heads to begin to do things differently, the NSC Chairman, said the era of just seeking participation in international championships without a proper plan on how to justify the huge amounts of money being spent by government is gone.
He stressed that going forward, participation in international and continental events must be tied to reasonable assurance that there will be podium performance.
“We must begin to do things differently and that is one of the cardinal reasons behind this meeting. Everyone of us must brace up to contribute meaningfully to the development of the sports sector.
“This sector is very important to the present administration and that is why President Bola Tinubu created the NSC. We must all work hard to justify that very gesture.
“It is also a common knowledge that most of the federations heads have been only showing interest in participating in international championships without also having anything on ground to support the growth of their sports locally. There are no league or training and we strongly believe that that will change going forward,” he cautioned.
Also speaking at the occasion, Director General of the NSC, Bukola Olapade revealed that the Commission has began to put in place guidelines for the conduct of elections into the boards of sports federations in the country.
He further charged the federations to brace up to establish viable marketing departments which will source for funds for the running of the federations.
Responding on behalf of the federations heads, President of the Paralympics Association of Nigeria.
Sunday Odebode thanked the duo of the NSC Chairman, Dikko and the DG, Olapade for calling the meeting.
He also promised that the sports federations will corporate with the Commission to take sports to the next level.
Also in his remarks, President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NSC), Habu Gumel charged the federations to work hard to uplift the prospect of sports in the country.
He also stated that next year will be full of sports activities which makes it more imperative to work hard to develop their athletes for the forthcoming international championships.