Sports stakeholders have called for the return of the National Sports Commission in order to make the administration of the sector more effective, The PUNCH reports.
This is coming in the wake of President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of Senator John Enoh from Cross River State as the new Minister of Sports Development, just as the Ministry of Youth, hitherto with sports, has been separated.
The NSC is the apex body responsible for regulating sports in the country, with Alhassan Yakmut serving as the last Director-General before it was scrapped by Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s (retd.) regime in 2015.
Enoh’s predecessor, Sunday Dare, who was in office during former Buhari’s second term, had promised that the commission would be revived.
According to Dare, the commission will be headed by a sports technocrat who will ensure that the federations have financial autonomy.
“The ministry is pushing for the return of the National Sports Commission because that is the way to get our sports federations working effectively. The federations will be directly under the NSC and will be able to source their funds. The ministry only steps in when there is a major international competition like the Olympics, African Games and Commonwealth Games,” Dare said in Abuja in 2021.
Former Vice President, Nigeria Olympic Committee, Lanre Glover, said the revival of the NOC would enable the sports federations run more efficiently.
“The sports ministry is just too big. I think it’s better we bring back the National Sports Commission because it will focus deeply on sports and is even more controllable. From my experience in working with chairmen of associations and sports federations, having the commission will help manage the gap of administration,” Glover told The PUNCH.
With the ministry now separated and under Enoh, a former President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria, Niran Adeniji, believes the NOC will help the new minister to focus on policies that affect sports, while the Ministry of Youth will also focus on social development.
“If we are running a commission, which is going to be managed entirely by sports professionals, then all you need is a good manager. That way, the sports minister should be policy-orientated and get the infrastructure working.
“I have always been an advocate of having a sports ministry separately so the minister can concentrate on sports and the youth minister will focus on welfare and social development,” he added.
Director-General of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Oluwatoyin Gafar, also said NSC would be the perfect hub for the wheel of sports policy.
“When there are sports policies in a country, the only effective way of running the policy is through the National Sports Commission. Bringing the policies under ministry will not work because of bureaucracy. A sports commission will certainly bring a new dawn for our sports,” Gafar said.
