Director-General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade, has rejected claims of widespread frustration in Nigerian sports, saying the sector has recorded progress across several sporting disciplines in the last one and a half years.
Olopade said this during an interview on ARISE News on Sunday, where he highlighted developments in sports beyond football.
“But it is not true that there is frustration out there for our sports today. In the last one and a half years, we have moved on from organising major international events, to showing data that we are employing more people through sports, to showing data that we are revamping our infrastructure, but to also show data that more than 43 sports, including new sports, you mentioned you’re into netball, tennis, are playing at a global level and excelling.”
He said the emphasis on football often overshadows achievements in other sports, citing Nigeria’s performance at a Commonwealth fencing event in Lagos.
“It is true that football is the ultimate. I remember just before the resignation of the NFS board, I had an interview. I’d just come out of a fencing event, a Commonwealth fencing event in Lagos, where Nigeria thrived, where young boys and girls qualified for almost getting to the Olympics and given good medals.”
Olopade said the government was working to broaden opportunities for young Nigerians through different sporting disciplines.
“We are working at resetting football and reforming football. But as of today, we’re here to celebrate hundreds of Nigerian children who are taking part in fencing. The background we’re spreading is that there’s also sports that is empowering and creating great winners for our children.”
Olopade also said the commission was working to expand access to sports facilities for young people across the country.
“We’re building neighbourhood facilities… We must create opportunities for them (children) to have access to these facilities.”
He maintained that the focus should be on the progress being recorded while acknowledging that the sector had experienced failures in the past.
“Look, I’m a pathological optimist. I refuse to dwell on the failures of the past. And if I should stop dwelling on the failure of the past, you cannot judge today’s trajectories on the past failures.”
“We must move on. My father used to say failure is routine in a man’s life. They are baited to come back and correct those failures.”
Olopade said the current approach was aimed at resetting Nigerian sports and creating a system capable of producing sustained results.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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