The first vice president of Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF), Ebenezer Morakinyo, has called on corporate bodies and individuals to invest in the sport development.
Morakinyo made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja, saying it will enhance handball development in the country.
According to him, the government alone cannot provide funding for the various federations to execute their programmes year in year out.
He said the issue of funding is a global phenomenon that affects all aspects of sports development across the globe.
“In Nigeria we have many philanthropists that are ready to contribute to developmental programmes of some sports activities.
“They will always want to work with people with integrity that can account for the money they give to them. We have corporate bodies that will want to invest in sports.
“They also want to deal with people they can trust,” he said
Morakinyo urged Federations to make efforts to attract sponsors to execute their programmes aside from the interventions from the government.
“They cannot rely on the government to scout for investors to get funds for them to execute their various sports activities,”he said.
He said that the Ministry of Sports Development had always approved our proposals to look for sponsors that will support us in our activities.
The president urged the federal government to build modern sports facilities in states and local governments, to enhance sports development.
He said that there was a need for the government to provide modern equipment for athletes to be able to compete with their counterparts globally.
Morakinnyo said that one of the substantial achievements of the volleyball Federation was the securing of a sponsor for the 2024 premier League.
“This is a success story for us since May 2023 till date; we were able to secure sponsorship from Guinness Nigeria ltd.
“The federation hopes that the second year of the Tinubu administration in sports development will be more fruitful than the first year,“he said.
NAN reports that the beach volleyball team won bronze in March at the African Games in Ghana.
They are currently in camp preparing for the Africa qualifiers in Casablanca, Morocco for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics Games
