Olapade reads riot act on sports federations over good governance

From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja

The Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Bukola Olapade, has read the riot act to Sports Federations, urging their leaderships to embrace good governance and accountability to attract investment and drive the development of sports in the country.

The NSC gave the order at a two-day governance and leadership seminar organised by the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) for presidents of National Sports Federations in Abuja on Monday.

In his remarks, Olopade stressed that good governance was essential to repositioning sports as a major contributor to Nigeria’s economic growth and national development.

While emphasising that sports has the potential to attract billions of dollars in investment and promote national unity, he stated that; “sporting events often generated widespread public interest and excitement.”

“We can take the reaction of Nigerians to the national football team’s performance as an example of the unifying power of sports.

“I commend the NOC for organising the seminar and urge federation presidents to work together to improve sports administration. There should be clearer understanding of Section 16 of the law establishing the NSC to strengthen relations between the commission and the sports federations.

“A common understanding of the law will help clarify the respective responsibilities of the commission, the NOC and the federations,” he said.

Earlier, NOC President, Habu Gumel, had explained that the seminar was designed to strengthen accountability, transparency and administrative efficiency across the national sports federations.

He noted that the programme, facilitated by an instructor from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), would provide participants with additional knowledge to improve their administrative and operational capacities.

Gumel further urged federation presidents to participate actively, listen attentively and ask questions to maximise the benefits of the training.

“The knowledge gained would help the federations improve their administration, prepare athletes for competitions and enhance Nigeria’s performance at local and international events.

“The seminar was not organised because the federations were performing poorly but to provide a platform for continuous learning and improvement. It is important that at any given time you be reminded of what you are doing,” he said.

The President of Commonwealth Sport and the Uganda Olympic Committee, Donald Rukare, who also spoke, said the seminar provided an opportunity for sports administrators to share experiences and learn best practices in governance and leadership.

He explained that the programme was designed to strengthen the knowledge and capacity of federation presidents and improve their understanding of the sports governance structure.

“National federations were integral to the Olympic movement, operating through clubs and maintaining relationships with national Olympic committees and international sports bodies. The seminar would examine how national federations fit into the national, regional and international sports governance systems,” he said.

Rukare said the sessions would focus on best practices, including holding annual general assemblies, regular executive committee meetings and developing policies to guide administration.