Former Vice President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (IOC) and current Patron of the body, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, has expressed his discontent with the Federal Government’s tendency to appoint Ministers with little to no knowledge of sports to head the country’s Ministry of Sports, Completesports.com reports.
In an exclusive interview with Completesports.com, Alhaji Galadima stated that Nigeria will continue to struggle in international competitions until the government recognises the importance of sports and appoints the right individuals to lead sports development in the country.
The former Chairman of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), now the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), and former Kano State Sports Commissioner remarked that he has never seen the government appoint a non-Senior Advocate as Minister of Justice or a non-medical doctor as Minister of Health. He questioned why the office of the Sports Minister is often used to satisfy state quotas or as a form of party patronage.
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“I believe the government should pay more attention to sports by appointing the right people in the right positions for the development of the game, and for the future and progress of our youth,” Galadima told Completesports.com.
“The entire ecosystem of Nigerian sports needs to be reevaluated. People have been asking why we have never seen someone who isn’t a SAN heading the Ministry of Justice, or someone who isn’t a medical doctor or professor heading the Ministry of Health. Yet, the Sports Ministry has always been a dumping ground for satisfying state quotas or getting individuals into the cabinet.”
He further emphasised: “Until the government appoints individuals with a background in sports as Sports Ministers, we will continue to go in circles, with people in the service misleading them and prioritising their agendas over the appointed minister, leading to continued failures at the spor
Games [Olympics].”
Galadima has always advocated for the reinstatement of the National Sports Commission (NSC) and stated that he would support the government’s decision to bring it back if the right people are appointed to manage it.
The respected sports administrator posited that the NSC would thrive if the right technocrats were appointed to lead it without the Ministry of Sports usurping its powers and duties.
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“We should also emphasise school sports and grassroots sports to cultivate talent as we did in the 80s. We need to plan ahead and not wait until the next Olympics to start preparing. We should already be looking toward the 2032 Games, identifying talents and preparing them in advance.”
Reflecting on Team Nigeria’s performance in Paris, Galadima attributed it to the nation’s lack of preparedness for the Games.
“You can’t give what you don’t have. That’s why I won’t place all the blame on the Sports Minister because he had very little knowledge of sports and relied strictly on what the Federations told him,” the former Kano Pillars FC Chairman concluded.
By Richard Jideaka, Abuja
1 Comment
Ouch! Is this ‘vawulence’ directed at John Enoh? LMAO…
Anyway, what you really only need is a competent manager of men and resources. Competent chief executives have the foresight to appoint, and rely upon the advice and knowledge of, specialist and/or technical staff and advisors.