FG Seeks Private Sector Collaboration To Unlock Economic Potential Of Sports

The federal government has expressed its determination to continue to collaborate with the corporate and private sector organisations to unlock economic potentials of sports in the country.

The minister of sports development, Senator John Owan Enoh, gave the assurance today in his office at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja, when he met with the members of the  Dream Sports Africa led by its country director, Mr Michael Anejo.

Senator Enoh stated that the new vision and thinking of the government under the leadership of  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu now is that sports is seen as both recreation and business. This, he said, was the right approach to jumpstart the desired transformation of sports in our country.

He stated that with this new vision of government, the Federal Ministry of Sports Development under his watch, will continue to keep its door open to collaboration with relevant stakeholders, private sector investors, the civil society organisations as well as the global sports community in order to join hands with the Federal Government in its effort to fully unlock the economic potentials of sports in Nigeria and in the process, unleash one of the most consequential transformations of the 21st century.

The Minister stated further that sports has a great potential for wealth creation, employment generation, poverty alleviation, social inclusivity

and the ability to make substantial contributions to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Senator Owan Enoh noted that private sector organisations have a critical role to play in unlocking these opportunities but that this huge potential has been squandered due to inaction  and missed priorities.

He called on the private  sector investors and major players in the industry to take advantage of the incentives put in place by the current administration to invest massively in the development of sports in Nigeria.