Wrong Appointment, Aimless Policy, Bane of Sports Development in Nigeria - Dr. Bello

Wrong Appointment, Aimless Policy, Bane of Sports Development in Nigeria - Dr. Bello

By Admin

Former Chairman, Gray's Football Club of Ede, Osun State, Dr. Tiamiyu Bello has identified wrong appointment, lack of clear cut sports policy, management and funding as impediments to the growth and development of sports in Nigeria.

Dr. Bello who dropped the hint while featuring as a guest speaker at the monthly stakeholders forum of the Sports Writers' Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Osun State Chapter which held on Wednesday, August 26th, 2020 in Osogbo said until these pressing issues are addressed, sports development in the country will perpetually remain at apogee.

The former Chairman of Ede North Local Government chided government for making sports ministry a dumping ground where anybody, irrespective of his qualification and experience can be deployed.

"There is no magic or miracle to make our sports develop until we put right pegs in the right holes. The growth of sports in Nigeria will remain static if the same situation persists. Those who don't know anything about sports have continually been made Ministers and Commissioners of Sports while experienced ex-internationals, athletes and Sports journalists are snubbed. Having someone from the field of sports as Ministers and Commissioners of Sports means the problem is half solved as the person will know what needs to be done as and when due, even when the chips are down."

"I want to implore governments at all levels to shift the paradigm and ensure that appointments at the sports ministries are exclusively for those from the sports circle," said the former Special Adviser to the Immediate Past Governor Rauf Aregbesola

Speaking on when sporting activities should resume in Nigeria as other countries are back on track with the drastic reduction in the Covid-19 cases, the Chief Medical Director of Bello Medical Centre, Kirikiri Town, Lagos said "efforts should be made to conduct tests for players and athletes as it was done in the developed countries of the world. After this, those who are affected should be quarantined in line with the protocols while others should be allowed to return to field and start the new league seasons".

Dr. Bello also urged the government to return the lost glory of sports through appropriate sports policy, personnel and facilities that can bring back healthy rivalries in Headmaster and Principals Cups, inter house athletic competitions among others where many sports legends are discovered and nurtured.

Corroborating Dr. Bello's argument, Chairman, Osun Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Wasiu Ajadosu, who made a surprise visit to the forum, linked wrong appointment as a high level of corruption by the government and a means of exposing the inefficiency and limited knowledge of the person in the portfolio assigned to him, leading to a serious political blunder.

There was a goodwill message by the Chief Press Secretary to the Osun State Governor, Mr. Ismail Omipidan, a former General Secretary of Borno Chapter of SWAN who commended efforts of Osun SWAN in promoting sporting activities in the state.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Acting Chairman, Osun SWAN, Mr. Tope Alabi appealed to the state government to look into the demands of the association since almost a decade which would assist sports writers in their jobs of sports promotion.

Mr. Alabi also reiterated that Osun SWAN remains an important organ of NUJ that will continue to drive sports forward with high level of objectivity, fairness and accuracy, in line with the constitution of the association.