Senates Promises Sports
Senates Promises Sports Ministry to Achieve
its Mandate
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Youth and Sports
Development, Distinguished Senator Obinna Ogba, has pledged
to support the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to achieve
its mandate in national development.
Senator Ogba said that the committee members are not
in the senate to checkmate the ministry, but to rub minds to ensure
the best is done for the interest of our Nigerian youth and sports
development.
Senator Obinna Ogba made this remark during the Budget
Defence of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development by the
Minister, Hon. Sunday Dare, ably supported by the Permanent
Secretary, Mr Olusade Adesola and Director Generals of the four
Parastatal of the Ministry at the NASS Complex, Abuja.
Continuing, the Chairman reiterated that the committee
will strive to assist the Ministry to ensure that it’s budget
receives positive consideration at the Appropriation
Committee level.
A member of the committee, Senator Ifeanyi Uba praised
the Minister for moving his office to stadium, stressing, Hon.
Sunday Dare is pragmatic and committed to the cause of
developing sports, and by extension empowering youths . The
Senator representing Anambra South said that very soon he
will propose Nigeria Football Development Bill to generate N30 – 40
million annually if signed.
Senator Francis Adenigba, also a member of the
committee, noted that Nigerians are more interested in foreign
clubs, thereby abandoning our local clubs, making our stadia empty.
He called on the Ministry to improve on our local games to generate
funds for the nation, adding, the Senate Committee is
poised to support the ministry achieve it’s aims of
repositioning our sports.
Furthermore, Senator Elisha Abbo, also a member of the
committee, in his remarks, enjoined the ministry to make deliberate
and conscious efforts towards grassroot sports development through
the creation of Sports Academy in the country. On youth employment
and wealth creation, Senators urged the Ministry to key
into different social intervention programs of government to
access funds that will benefit and enhance entrepreneurship
culture for our unemployed youths.
Responding to these observations and
commentaries, Minister for Youth and Sports Development, Hon.
Sunday Dare, opined that the Ministry is in the process of
returning the Headmaster’s Cup tournament that will involve 58,000
primary schools across the country in terms of grassroot
sports development.
According to Hon. Dare, the Ministry must bring in
private funding, and has started a process of engaging
notable individuals to help build new football pitches in MKO
Abiola ( in Abuja) and Lagos National stadia. These private
individuals and corporate organisations will be engaged in the
adoption of pitches, sports centers and athletes, and
sponsoring them.
“We have 45 football pitches across the nation, apart
from Uyo stadium, none is of international standard” he added.
Commenting on the bane of our sports development, the
Minister said that our sports lacks content that will make it
attractive to Investors, and unless we make sports attractive, we
may not attain the milestones experience of what other great
sporting countries are noted for.
He also confirmed that : “The ministry is
already putting strategy in place to hold a Sports
Business Summit to bring about the synergy of a Public
Private Partnership to generate funds” .