The Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, on Thursday reiterated his plans for the nation’s sports, outlining his approach to addressing the funding challenges.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Sports Tonight, Dikko explained that the creation of the National Sports Development Fund would resolve the issue of insufficient funding.
“The main issue in sports is funding. Once you can resolve the funding problem and establish a sustainable flow of funds into sports, about 80 per cent of the issue is addressed,” he said.
“One aspect we are working on is to address the funding issue by creating the National Sports Development Fund. This fund will enable us to establish processes to generate revenue.”
The NSC head explained that with adequate funding, the commission could allocate resources to infrastructure projects, personnel recruitment, technical staff, and athlete remuneration.
During the programme, he assured Nigerians that no sport would be promoted at the expense of others.
He pledged not to give undue preference to any single sport, emphasising that it is essential to use popular sports to support the growth of less popular ones.
According to him, all sports will be given an equal opportunity to develop.
“People shouldn’t worry about football – yes, they say football is the ‘king of sports,’ but we should use its influence to help drive other sports and ensure they all have equal opportunities,” Dikko remarked.
“There’s no need to single out one sport and focus solely on that; however, we also need to work on our comparative advantage. We should identify the sports that provide us with an edge, whether in terms of medals or enhancing our sports economy.”
“For instance, reports indicate that in Nigeria, 83% of the population is interested in football, with around 65% actively participating in it. We should leverage football’s popularity to bring other sports along, so they can each grow according to their strengths and potential,” he concluded.