Close Menu
    • Betting
      • Nigeria
      • South Africa
        • Betting Sites
          • Football Betting Sites
          • New Betting Sites
          • Best Lucky Numbers Betting Sites
          • Horse Racing Betting Sites
          • Casino Sites
        • Free Bets
          • Hollywoodbets Sign Up Bonus
          • Betway Sign Up Bonus
          • Playabets Sign Up Bonus
          • 10Bet Sign Up Bonus
          • Sportingbet Sign Up Bonus
          • Gbets Sign Up Bonus
        • Casino Bonuses
          • Free Spins
          • No Deposit Bonuses
        • Bookmakers
          • Hollywoodbets Register
          • Betway Register
          • Playabets Register
          • 10Bet Register
          • Sportingbet Register
          • Gbets Register
      • Malaysia
        • Online Casinos
          • Live Casinos
          • 4D Lotto Betting
          • FIshing
          • Bacarrat
          • Blackjack
          • Roulette
          • Real Money Casino Apps
          • eWallet Casinos
          • 918 Kiss
        • Best Betting Sites
          • Football Betting
        • Welcome Bonuses
          • Free Credits
          • Free Credit No Deposit Casinos
          • Free Spins
        • Reviews
          • 1xBet review
          • BK8 review
          • M88 review
          • Dafabet review
          • 96M review
          • Me88 review
          • OB9 review
          • 12Play review
          • We88 review
          • Maxim88 review
          • Uwin33 review
      • Singapore
        • Casino
          • Best Online Casino
          • Live Casino Online
          • Free Credit Casino
          • Online Slots Casinos
        • Top Online Casinos
          • 1xBet
          • BK8
          • B9Casino
          • Uwin33
          • 12Play
          • Maxim88
          • Me88
          • OB9
          • 96M
        • Betting
          • Sports Betting
          • Esports Betting
          • Soccer Betting
          • Football Betting
          • Horse Racing
        • Casino Games
          • 4D Lotto/TOTO
          • Roulette
          • Blackjack
          • Baccarat
          • Mahjong
          • Sic Bo
          • Fishing Game
          • Pai Gow Poker
          • Craps
          • Video Poker
      • Philippines
        • Online Casinos
          • High Slot Volatility Casinos
          • PAGCOR Licensed Casinos
          • Live Casino Sites
          • Minimum Deposit Casino Sites
        • Online Betting
          • Betting Sites
          • Betting Apps
          • Football Betting Sites
          • Sabong Betting Sites
          • NBA Betting Sites
        • Payment Methods
          • Best Paypal Casino Sites
          • PayMaya Casino Online
          • Best Gcash Online Casinos
        • Casino Bonuses & Free Offers
          • Best Casino Bonuses
          • Slot Game Free Bonus
          • Free Bonus Casino No Deposit
          • Jili Casino Free 100 Pesos Bonus
        • Casino Site Reviews
          • BK8 Review
          • Melbet Review
          • PesoBet Review
          • 1xBet Review
      • India
        • Best Betting Sites India
        • 1xBet Promo Code
        • Parimatch Promo Code
        • Stake Promo Code
        • Dafabet Promo Code
        • 1Win Promo Code
      • Casino non AAMS
      • Reviews
      • Austria
      • Betting VPNs
    • 1xbet Promo Code
    • Complete Tips
    • Transfers
    • Features
    • Lifestyle
    • Sports Business
    • Celebrity
    • Back Pass
    • Sports News Extra
    • Blog
    Complete SportsComplete Sports
    • Home
    • 9ja Stars Abroad
    • Nigerian Leagues
      • NPFL
      • NNL
      • NWFL
    • World Football
      • EPL News
      • Bundesliga News
      • La Liga News
      • Ligue 1 News
      • Serie A News
      • UCL News
    • Competitions
      • World Cup
      • AFCON
      • CHAN
      • CAF Champions League
    • Live
      • Live Scores
      • Live Commentaries
      • Live Streaming
    • Videos
    • Services
      • Shop
      • Merchandise
      • Significant Reasons to choose Pocket friendly classified advertising
      • SEO Copywriting Services for Brand Awareness
      • Comparison
    • ePaper
    • APP
      • Android
      • iOS
      • e-Complete Sports
    • Betting
      • Nigeria
      • South Africa
        • Betting Sites
          • Football Betting Sites
          • New Betting Sites
          • Best Lucky Numbers Betting Sites
          • Horse Racing Betting Sites
          • Casino Sites
        • Free Bets
          • Hollywoodbets Sign Up Bonus
          • Betway Sign Up Bonus
          • Playabets Sign Up Bonus
          • 10Bet Sign Up Bonus
          • Sportingbet Sign Up Bonus
          • Gbets Sign Up Bonus
        • Casino Bonuses
          • Free Spins
          • No Deposit Bonuses
        • Bookmakers
          • Hollywoodbets Register
          • Betway Register
          • Playabets Register
          • 10Bet Register
          • Sportingbet Register
          • Gbets Register
      • Malaysia
        • Online Casinos
          • Live Casinos
          • 4D Lotto Betting
          • FIshing
          • Bacarrat
          • Blackjack
          • Roulette
          • Real Money Casino Apps
          • eWallet Casinos
          • 918 Kiss
        • Best Betting Sites
          • Football Betting
        • Welcome Bonuses
          • Free Credits
          • Free Credit No Deposit Casinos
          • Free Spins
        • Reviews
          • 1xBet review
          • BK8 review
          • M88 review
          • Dafabet review
          • 96M review
          • Me88 review
          • OB9 review
          • 12Play review
          • We88 review
          • Maxim88 review
          • Uwin33 review
      • Singapore
        • Casino
          • Best Online Casino
          • Live Casino Online
          • Free Credit Casino
          • Online Slots Casinos
        • Top Online Casino
          • 1xBet
          • BK8
          • B9Casino
          • Uwin33
          • 12Play
          • Maxim88
          • Me88
          • OB9
          • 96M
        • Betting
          • Sports Betting
          • Esports Betting
          • Soccer Betting
          • Football Betting
          • Horse Racing
        • Casino Games
          • 4D Lotto/TOTO
          • Roulette
          • Blackjack
          • Baccarat
          • Mahjong
          • Sic Bo
          • Fishing Game
          • Pai Gow Poker
          • Craps
          • Video Poker
      • Philippines
        • Online Casinos
          • High Slot Volatility Casinos
          • PAGCOR Licensed Casinos
          • Live Casino Sites
          • Minimum Deposit Casino Sites
        • Online Betting
          • Betting Sites
          • Betting Apps
          • Football Betting Sites
          • Sabong Betting Sites
          • NBA Betting Sites
        • Payment Methods
          • Best Gcash Online Casinos
          • PayMaya Casino Online
          • Best Paypal Casino Sites
        • Casino Bonuses & Free Offers
          • Best Casino Bonuses
          • Slot Game Free Bonus
          • Free Bonus Casino No Deposit
          • Jili Casino Free 100 Pesos Bonus
        • Casino Site Reviews
          • BK8 Review
          • Melbet Review
          • PesoBet Review
          • 1xBet Review
      • India
        • Best Betting Sites India
        • 1xBet Promo Code
        • Parimatch Promo Code
        • Stake Promo Code
        • Dafabet Promo Code
        • 1Win Promo Code
      • Reviews
      • Casino Non AAms
      • Austria
      • Betting VPNs
    • 1xBet Promo Code
    • Complete Tips
    • Transfers
    • Features
    • Life Style
    • Sports Business
    • Sports News Extra
    • Celebrity
    • Back Pass
    • Blog
    • en English
      • ar Arabic
      • en English
      • fr French
      • it Italian
      • ko Korean
      • pa Punjabi
      • th Thai
      • vi Vietnamese
    Complete SportsComplete Sports
    Blog

    Odegbami: A Case For The Return Of The National Sports Commission – Back To The Future!

    Nnamdi EzekuteBy Nnamdi EzekuteAugust 29, 2020Updated:August 29, 2020No Comments8 Mins Read
    national-development-plan-ndp-aliko-dangote-group-moshood-abiola-national-stadium-abuja-minister-of-youth-and-sports-development-sunday-dare-national-sports-commission-nsc-segun-odegbami
    Nigeria's Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare

    I am not a scholar of the subject of sport.

    The only authority I draw from on the subject is my personal experience.

    Delving into technical matters of sport in a newspaper column is often boring. The sports public do not like to read technical issues. They love the stories around the athletes and the events. Writing this today, therefore, is a real challenge, but write I must as a responsibility to sport. The cost of remaining silent is too high to bear should things get even worse than they already are. Nigerian sport is in bad shape and everyone knows it.

    Mr. Sunday Dare, the ‘new’ minister in charge of sports, one year old in office already, has infected me with his derring-do attitude. He has shown more guts, determination and commitment to turning the fortune of sport around than many of those that held the office before him. I can feel him in several places. I fully share and appreciate his candour, spirit and enthusiasm for a new beginning. So, we all must help him.

    After almost three decades of observing a deterioration in our sports facilities, infrastructure and institutions, I have come to the simple conclusion that a panacea for the revival of proper sports development in Nigeria is the return of a system of administration anchored to the National Sports Commission. I feel that using a ministry-of-sports structure, tried severally in the past, would continue to yield the same ‘failed’ result. That is a subject of close study and interrogation also.

    The NSC is an agency of the federal government, a parastatal supervised by the Ministry of Sports, tested in the past with great success for over two decades, was made up of sports professionals and technocrats, with the responsibility to handle elite athletes’ development in the country. Elite athletes are those gifted boys and girls discovered and assembled from the grassroots. The grassroots are anchored to primary and secondary schools under another agency under the States’ and Federal Ministries of Education. The Nigeria School Sports Federation is in every State of the country, made up of some of the best-trained sports professionals, qualified teachers with degrees in physical and health education.

    The elite athletes discovered and selected from the grassroots form a pool in the NSC program that will train and hone the best of them through various processes at home and abroad some times to be able to represent the country in various international sports. In short, the National Sports Commission is the body established to train the best athletes, and manage national facilities, institutions and events that will develop the best athletes and prepare them for international competitions.

    In this assignment, theoretically, and only because it cannot on its own register athletes for international competitions, the commission has to necessarily collaborate with national sports federations and the Nigeria Olympic Committee to be able to register and send teams to participate in the different international competitions.

    For example, to participate in the Olympic Games, the NSC must go through the NOC. To participate in the football World Cup, the NSC must work with the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF. The same thing goes for other sports too, basketball, tennis, swimming and so on – the NSC must collaborate with the different sports federations to be able to participate in their international competitions.

    Also Read: Dangote Group Begins $1m-Worth Renovation Of Moshood Abiola National Stadium

    All of the above is a little excursion into an ideal architecture of the structure of the sports sector and shared responsibilities between the bodies. A closer study and look is necessary to break it down even further and better for better understanding and implementation.

    In practice, as we have found, because of our peculiar circumstances in Nigeria, as a result of political interruptions and interventions, the lines of responsibility between the various organs have become blurred in time and for different reasons, particularly during implementation. They have become so blurred in the past three decades that very few persons within the sports sector can now draw the clear lines of distinction of roles and responsibilities of the different organs. The result is crisis and confusion that have stalled development and have remained undealt with.

    The high turnover of Ministers, plus the shuffling of sport management between a set-up of the ministry of Sports with the NSC as a parastatal, the ministry subsuming the NSC, the NSC existing without a supervisory sports ministry, or the collapse of the two under the Ministry, an unfortunate musical game of chairs that started around 1991 that have accumulated and become the Albatross of sports growth and development in the country.

    This continuous shuffling of structure and responsibilities, has left sport in a daze, with the debris of a deficit of understanding: who is responsible for what? who funds what? etc. Today, the greatest challenge facing sports is untangling the resultant knot, reassigning the different roles and responsibilities, and coming up with a proper, simple and functional sports architecture.

    Without any doubt in my mind, there is confusion in understanding and separating the roles and responsibilities of the various organs in sports. From my experience, it is important to revisit the issue of the NSC and examine the merits and demerits of creating it with the necessary legislation. I am told that the present bill in the National Assembly is a far cry from the best that can be expected. So, the entire thing needs a re-examination, this time, tapping from the experiences of the pioneers whilst drinking lavishly also from the enthusiasm, energy and innovation of the new generation.

    Grassroots sports development is a project of the Ministries of Education. They are rightly anchored to education in the States and Federal Ministries of Education. They were properly funded statutorily through UBEC and SUBEB, agencies of the federal and State governments respectively, that have the resources to do so with allocated funds drawn from the national treasury. That arrangement was consumed by the futile attempt to marry the ministries of education and of sports in a collaborative joint arrangement. Lagos State developed a concept that they say worked, but closer examination reveals a fragility in the relationship and the anticipated results. The Nigeria School Sports Federation was losing its teeth and becoming impotent.

    The regular change of Ministers, political appointees not drawn from the specialized field of sports, and dependent on advisers drawn from a pool where everyone is an ‘expert’ without depth in specialized knowledge and experience to pass on, have afflicted all of sport.

    What is needed now is a recalibration, a temporary pause, to re-set the button, gain some time to look again at the architecture of Sport in Nigeria.

    If Nigeria had travelled along the projectile of the era of professional sports administrators in an NSC that started the journey of sports development in Nigeria, from Jerry Enyeazu, to Isaac Akioye, to Awoture Eleyae, to Engineer Idibia, and so on, Nigeria would have achieved what Australia, Jamaica and Kenya did through sport. Sport would have become a very viable industry in Nigeria.

    So, without hurting any sensibilities, this is my humble appeal and suggestion to the federal government through the Minister. Let the country take the matter of reviving the NSC very seriously. Let us interrogate the subject with professional candour.

    Let us do what Chief Obafemi Awolowo did with his free education programme. The document was given to me by his daughter, Dr. Tokunboh Awolowo-Dosumu a few years ago to read and keep. It was a coffee-table pamphlet of no more than 16 pages. It was so simple and pleasurable to read that even an elementary school pupil will read it in 10 minutes, digest and understand it clearly and understand the process of implementation. Even when the late sage was no longer in power, that blueprint was followed by generations of succeeding Yoruba leaders until the process was blurred by political shenanigans.

    Finally, just to buttress my conviction. At the start of the 21st Century, Australia rose rapidly in world sports. They became a model of sports development to the rest of the world.

    I claim some credit for inviting their sports administrators to Nigeria at the time. In a period of two years Nigeria established a relationship with the Australian Sports authorities. They went around Nigeria, did a forensic on our problems, and came up with straight forward recommendations for the development of the country’s elite athletes.

    What they came up with was a structural mirror of where Nigeria started from – a Ministry of Sports existing side by side a National Sports Commission, serviced scientifically by a National Institute for Sports, a structure that existed in Nigeria’s past, functioned flawlessly and remained the most productive period in Nigeria’s sports history.

    What that means is that Nigeria can and should go ‘Back to the Future’. The country should drink from its history and experience, from that old model, and chart a new course into the future.

    Let us set up a small study group to examine the whole issue of the NSC with a possible new architecture for Nigerian sports. It will not hurt or harm anybody if we do.


    Chief Obafemi Awolowo Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development National Institute for Sports National Sports Commission Nigeria School Sports Federation NSC SEGUN ODEGBAMI Sunday Dare
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Previous ArticleBent Wants Zaha To Replace Iwobi At Everton
    Next Article Liverpool Target First Community Shield Title In 14 Years
    Mr. Nnamdi Ezekute
    Nnamdi Ezekute
    • Website

    Nnamdi Ezekute, a sports reporting expert, has risen through the ranks at Complete Communications Limited (CCL) famed for publications like Complete Sports.
    Email: [email protected]
    X (Formerly Twitter): @Ezekutive

    Related Posts

    LOC Unveils Committee Members For Africa U-18/U-20 Athletics Championships

    June 15, 2025
    segun-odegbami--international-college-and-sports-academy-soca-new-world-order-immigration-sport

    Chasing The ‘Impossible’ Dream! – Odegbami 

    June 14, 2025
    comrade-joseph-evah-coordinator-ijaw-monitoring-group-img-kano-state-government-kano-state-athletes-gateway-games-2024-national-sports-festival

    NSF 2024: Evah Blasts Kano Govt: ’30-Year-Old Bus Killed 22 Athletes – Not an Accident, But Negligence’

    June 3, 2025
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Complete Sports e-Paper

    Latest Nigerian news in South Africa
    Latest News

    2025 CWC: Real Madrid Battle Ready To Face Al Hilal –Alonso

    June 16, 2025

    2025 CWC: Sanusi Missing As Porto, Palmeiras End In Stalemate

    June 16, 2025

    FIFA CWC: PSG Thrash Athletico Madrid In Group B Opener

    June 15, 2025

    Nwaneri Names Chelsea Legend As His Idol

    June 15, 2025

    Estevao: I’ll Need Time To Adapt To Life At Chelsea

    June 15, 2025
    • Home
    • Transfers
    • Lifestyle
    • iSoccerng
    • Best Casinos UK
    • Sports Business
    • Links 1
      • Mb66
      • MB66
      • Shbet
      • Nhà cái uy tín
      • MB66
      • F8BET
      • Shbet
      • Hi88
      • Jun88
      • 789bet
      • F168
      • Jun88
      • https://shbet.solar/
      • https://rr88vn.in/
      • Jun88
      • MB66
      • 789bet
      • 68 Game Bài
      • 789bet
      • 789bet
      • Hi88
      • New88
      • 789Club
      • Jun88
      • 33Win
      • Hb88
      • 77Bet
      • https://f168.sarl/
      • F168
      • MB66
      • 789bet
      • Hi88
      • Trang cá cược bóng đá
      • F168
      • New88
      • New88.market
      • KUBET
      • F168
    • Links 2
      • 8XBET
      • Hi88
      • Hi88
      • Sunwin
      • F168
      • F8bet
      • SHBET
      • 789bet
      • Hi88
      • https://korporacja.eu.com/
      • New88
      • Ok9
      • F168
      • 78win
      • F168
      • Sh bet
      • F8bet
      • 78WIN
      • F168
      • KUBET
      • F8bet
      • Sunwin
      • Kubet
      • Sunwin
      • New88
      • 68 game bài
      • F8BET
      • Okvip green
      • Kubet
      • Kèo nhà cái
      • Hitclub
      • Jun88
      • Nhà cái leo88
      • https://77betpro.net/
      • Hb88
      • IWIN
      • Nhà cái uy tín
      • 8x bet
    Quick links
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Use
    • Editorial Team
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
    • D-U-N-S® Number: 850456343
    Latest News

    2025 CWC: Real Madrid Battle Ready To Face Al Hilal –Alonso

    June 16, 2025

    2025 CWC: Sanusi Missing As Porto, Palmeiras End In Stalemate

    June 16, 2025

    FIFA CWC: PSG Thrash Athletico Madrid In Group B Opener

    June 15, 2025
    About
    Complete Sports Logo

    Email Us: [email protected]
    Phone: 234-1-7403112 (Front Office)


    Get it on Google Play


    Download on the App Store

    Verified Business

    DMCA Protected & Monitored
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest YouTube LinkedIn TikTok Telegram
    Google News Google News
    Copyright © 2025 Completesports.com All rights reserved.
    The information contained in Completesports.com may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the prior written authority of Completesports.com.
    Footer Ad

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.