Name Changing, Recycling Of Officials Will Not Grow Sports – Gara Gombe

Chairman of Gombe State Athletics Association, Hon. Ahmed Shuaibu Gara-Gombe, has insisted that unless corruption in the Nigerian sports is stopped, changing of nomenclature and recycling of officials will not develop sports.

Gombe, who was speaking on Arise TV Programme where he spoke on the scrapping of the Federal Ministry of Sports Development and reintroduction of National Sports Commission (NSC) in its place, said unless people with meaningful track record and integrity are appointed to manage the sports sector, moving from the Ministry of Sports to NSC will take Nigeria to nowhere.

“My position about the creation of NSC in the last 48 years is that we have been changing names, moving from the Ministry of Sports to NSC, changing nomenclature back and forth. At some point, it was the ministry of education, information, culture and sports in the last 48 years. That brings the question, what do we want to do with sports in Nigeria? are we ready to develop sports in this country, if we are ready, it doesn’t come by changing names..

“Whenever there’s a failure we remember, let’s change to the Sports Commission, anytime there’s failure again, we say put sports under Sports Ministry.

The matter is not by changing names, the real issue about sports in Nigeria is squarely corruption. Change names one million times, we still go back to where we were years back,” he said

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On whether the act establishing the NSC is legal or illegal, the erstwhile secretary of the defunct Nigeria Stakeholders Football Forum said: “The former chairman of sports in the Senate, Obinna Ogba, was the one who spearheaded the act. And as far as I am concerned, the NSC act was the worst ever seen because the content was wrong, fraudulent and was designed to bring back friends and relatives. The documents are totally faulty and need to be reworked.

“I remember in 2021, the National Assembly transmitted the bill to Mr. President, Buhari, for his ascent. The president didn’t give his ascent, and you know when such happens, the Senate retrieves the bill and approves it after a number of weeks.

“But President Buhari later signed the NSC Act on May 25, 2023, four days before his exit from office. After signing the bill, some people took it and hid it inside their drawer without a formal announcement. When did they bring back the NSC act? Is it after the Sports Ministry has failed? Someone should be held responsible.”

According to him, sports all over the world are driven by corporate business entities, but in Nigeria the government keeps pumping money into the sector for people stealing it without accountability.

“In the history of Nigeria, No President has pumped money into sports like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did. Where did he get the money having gone borrowing, raising taxes bills which means, the president means well for Nigerian Sports.

President Tinubu released N24 billion to sports in one year. Where are those who managed it? Some of them were assigned to another ministry to go and hide while others are roaming the streets enjoying their loot”