Minister Vows To End Funding Challenge In Sports Sector

The minister of sports development, Senator John Owan Enoh, said he is not blind to the challenge of funding in the sports sector, vowed to take firm decisions that will address the longstanding problem impeding sports development in Nigeria.

Enoh disclosed this while speaking at the strategic meeting with the Olympics, Paralympics and Africa Games national sports federations presidents and secretaries held at the media center of Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Thursday.

Expressing his determination to find lasting solutions, Enoh said his engagement with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on adequate funding of sports has strengthened his resolve and commitment to solve the problem.

While outlining his proactive approach to solve the longstanding problem, he said Nigeria cannot continue to rely on yearly appropriation from the government to fund sports.

“I am determined to solve that challenge even if we have to go ahead and amend existing laws to see what provisions these laws can make to fund our sports.”

“The challenge of funds in sports has been in existence for so long, and every day we keep talking about it. Depending solely on the yearly appropriation from the government can never be a solution, meaning there must be a way out of it,” he said.

Drawing on his experience chairing finance committees in both the Senate and House of Representatives, Enoh emphasized his commitment to exploring innovative funding mechanisms. “If by the end of this year, I am still going to go back, depending on the government for 100 per cent funding for the Ministry, then it means that there is more that is required to be done.”

He described the meeting with the presidents and secretaries of the national sports federations as important, saying coming after the retreat with different Sports Federations in December last year, it will affords the Ministry and the various stakeholders within the nation’s sports ecosystem the opportunity to change the narrative of the sports sector and consolidate on the gains achieved at the retreat.

He expressed his readiness to explore all available options including holding periodic meetings with stakeholders and encouraging processes that will lead to amendments of relevant laws to ensure that sports receives the desired injection that it needs for better performance.

He said, “looking at where we are coming from, there is no reason why we should not hold periodic meetings between the Ministry and the various sports federations. On our part, the Ministry is fully committed to ensure that these meetings take place on a periodic basis because we have a shared responsibility with the sports federations,” he said.

In his remarks, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Sports Development, Ismaila Abubakar, said that the meeting was convened by the minister to enable the various stakeholders to brainstorm and evolve strategies for the nation to achieve success at the African, Olympic/Paralympic Games and other sports competitions.

The technical meeting which took place at the media center of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium was well attended by the various presidents of national sports federations, their general secretaries and the evaluation team.