Yola wants achievements in sports sustained in 2018
A sports administrator and former chieftain of the defunct National Sports Commission, NSC, Alhaji Abba Yola has called on sports federations to sustain the achievements recorded in the year 2017.
In view of the successes made by Nigerian sports men and women in international competitions, most sports anyalysts have tagged year 2017 a fairly good one for the sector.
Prominent among the achievements made by sports in Nigeria in the year 2017 was the qualification of the Super Eagles for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the victory of the D’Tigress in the FIBA African Women Basketball Championship in Mali, the silver medal won by the D’Tigers in the male version of the basketball championship as well as the outstanding performances of Nigerian paralymics.
In a chat with Daily Trust on Saturday, the former chairman of Kano Pillars Football club said Nigerian sports is once again on the rise so everything should be done by all stakeholders to sustain the momentum.
He called on the different sports federations to think out of the box in the area of funding as he said over dependence on government for sponsorship has been the bane of sports in the country.
According to him, world over, sports is private business as government is only expected to provide the enabling environment for the sector to thrive.
Yola, therefore, said goverment too should show more commitment by providing more sporting infrastructure and the required laws in line with international best practices for the sports sector to witness the much needed growth.
He maintained that Nigerian sports can develop as desired only when there is mutual cooperation between government and the private sector who engage in sports as part of their corporate social responsbility.
“It is worthy to say that sports in Nigeria recorded some achievements in 2017. Whether by luck or hard work Nigerian athletes gave good account of themselves at international competitions.
“There is therefore every need for us to build on the success recorded. I want to charge the sports federations to redouble their efforts to ensure that the achievements made are not like flashes in the pan.
“I suggest the federations should try and diversify their sources of funding for over dependence on government won’t take us anywhere.
“Government too should continue to play its fatherly role by providing the enabling environment for sports to grow.
“Goverment and the private sector must join hands to lift this important sector that has done so much to positively project the image of the country in the world”.
Yola therefore called for quick and peacful resolution of the crisis that is currently rocking the Nigeria Basketball Federation.
According to him the crisis in the NBBF that led to the emergence of two presidents for the federation stained the achievements made in the sector in year 2017.