How A Minister Aborted The Most Ambitious Grassroots Sports Development Program In Nigeria’s History  –Odegbami

On the eve of another Olympic Games, I invite the reader of this page to join me and shed their own tears.

Believe it or not, when Dr. Ebele Goodluck Jonathan , GCFR, was President of Nigeria, he approved the establishment of a federal government committee with the singular mandate to revive academicals sports in the country. That means, sports at the grassroots, at secondary schools level – natural feeder to elite sports in the tertiary institutions, Local Governments, States and the national sports councils and associations. 

The body was called “Nigeria Academicals Sports Committee”, NASCOM.  

The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports at the time, inaugurated the committee whose membership included several stake holders at the secondary schools sports level across the country. 

I believe that my background as a product of school sports, owner of the country’s first multi-sports, co-educational secondary school, Chairman of the Governing Council of the country’s only national sports institute, and an active participant in the organisation of secondary school sports in the country at the time, earned me the appointment of Chairman.  

Also Read: Sport – Uniting The Black Race!  –Odegbami  

The President’s mandate was simple – set up the machinery to revive participation in sports in every secondary school in the country. For most members of the committee, particularly those that were instrumental to establishing it, their vision was small – to organise a national football competition for secondary schools, name it after Mr. President and get all State governors to direct their ministries of sports and of education to participate, have grand finale in Abuja and get Mr. President to attend. 

It was good, but limited in the scope of what could be achieved additionally with an expansion of the vision. 

I saw it as an opportunity to catalyze the biggest grassroots sports development programme in Nigeria with multiple outcomes that will revolutionize sports, take its outcomes beyond academicals level, impact national youth engagement, youth empowerment, encourage enrollment into schools (particularly in the Boko Haram ravaged Nort East at the time), document all Nigeria’s athletes, create a seamless transition from secondary to tertiary and to professional levels in sports, and so on. 

After several months of consultations and conversations with the highest authorities in the country amongst the stakeholders to be involved in this project, and a draft document was scripted capturing the vision and all the details of strategy, funding, implementation, outcomes, a SWOT analysis, and so on, it was clear that the President’s simple and single mandate, escalated, becomes an exciting trip into uncharted new territories in sports development that will change the lives of the youths for good.  

It was clear that for the project to succeed there needed to be a general clear understanding by everyone involved in the different parts, with clear roles and responsibilities, a cord connecting all the moving parts in the complex architecture, and a seamless relationship up the ladder of the production line from grassroots to the elite and professional ranks of sports, areas that were outside the direct mandate of the Committee. 

The weakest part of the project was the absence of legislation to give it teeth and a permanent life. The committee was ad-hoc at best, to survive at the whims of any new Minister. 

Also Read: The Return Of The Flying Antelopes…  –Odegbami

‘Unfortunately’ I was never a small dreamer. I saw beyond the superficial intentions. 

With me as pilot, following consultations and meetings, the committee came up with a master plan for deployment to strategic institutions and organizations in the country, without whose buy-in and participation the project would not take off from the tarmac. 

At different fora, I led the committee to meet with the Principals of all Federal Government Secondary Schools in the country; all State Ministries of Sports; all State Ministries of Education; Directors of Sports of all State Sports Councils; all Local Governments Sports Councils; the Nigeria Governor’s Forum; all Principals of all public and private Secondary schools in Nigeria; Directors of Sports of Tertiary institutions in Nigeria under NUGA for the Universities, NiPOGA for the Polytechnics, and NACEGA for the Colleges of Education; the committee of Vice-Chancellors of Universities; Heads of all military schools in Nigeria; the Directors of Sports in the States education ministries;, the leadership of the Nigeria School Sports Federation, NSSF, that are direct supervisors of academicals sports in Nigeria; and so on. They were all consulted, briefed and integrated into the grand plan that they readily embraced with relief that the President was involved! 

The plan was to document all students (and indirectly, all students) in all these institutions interested in participating in any one or more of different sports in their institutions. The documentation will include their full names, home address, date and place of birth, next of kin, institution, course of study, class, sports, blood type, biometrics, and any other information that may be found useful for proper documentation. This data will be  universally available and accessible to all the institutions in the country. 

Meanwhile, each student athlete will be given a card (like an ATM card) that will serve several purposes. This card will be provided by a bank that partners with the Committee and houses all student sports levies and details from the over 180 Universities, 420 Polytechnics and hundreds Colleges of Technology, hundreds of Colleges of Education, tens of thousands of Secondary schools, and so on.  

Every institution readily bought into the grand scheme. Funding was going to be simple and easy.

Beyond marketing, sponsorships and partnerships, every student in tertiary institutions would pay an annual sports levy as they have paid to date. 

Also Read: Nigerian Football – A Slightly Different Perspective!  –Odegbami

In secondary schools, levies used to exist until they were canceled as a result of abuse by school heads. With proper legislation they were to be revived and better monitored. 

I leave everyone to work out the math of the what those levies would amount to when domiciled in a partnering bank. 

Let me tell you.

I approached only one bank with the proposal. The MD of one of the biggest banks in Nigeria today, listened to me in rapt attention until I finished my presentation. 

His response remains etched in my mind till this day. 

He told me that every day of his life as MD he received tons of proposals from organizations and people, big and small. 90 % of them, he said, ended up in his dustbin. A small percentage attracted his attention and he sent those ones to responsible subordinates for consideration. But there were a few that attracted his full attention.  

Whenever he encountered one of those ones, he knew instantly. The proposal I brought to him was one of the best he had ever received. It was a winner. His bank would partner with NASCOM to actualise it. And to demonstrate the bank’s seriousness and commitment, he invited one of his directors to join us, and instructed him to process and deliver one of the new cars the bank was using for promotions to the secretariat of NASCOM in Abuja for the project! 

Within a few days, a committee of the bank had begun work.  The bank’s IT department created designs for the cards that were to serve as national student ID cards, Insurance cards to cover accidents and injuries during sports events, basic ATM cards, registers every sports person within the project from secondary to any tertiary institution as a part of a welfare scheme that sustains through their sports careers and beyond! 

It was a project that was too good to be true, cruising along until close to the London Olympic Games in 2012. A new minister for Youth and Sports was appointed. By the time he was returning from the Olympics, he had his own ideas and projects. Unimpressed with NASCOM, one of his first moves was to change the leadership and to install his choice of members. The body died a natural death! 

In one moment of ‘ignorance’ with the stroke of a pen, he aborted a heavily ‘pregnant’ project, one of the most ambitious grassroots sports development programs in Nigeria sports history.