Let’s give Malam Dikko breathing space

Following the appointment of Malam Shehu Dikko as the Chairman of the reinstated National Sports Commission (NSC), the MKO Abiola National Stadium, where his office is located, has become a beehive of activities. Consequently, the sports complex, built in 2003 by then-President Olusegun Obasanjo, is bubbling, not with sporting activities, but courtesy calls to the […]

Following the appointment of Malam Shehu Dikko as the Chairman of the reinstated National Sports Commission (NSC), the MKO Abiola National Stadium, where his office is located, has become a beehive of activities. Consequently, the sports complex, built in 2003 by then-President Olusegun Obasanjo, is bubbling, not with sporting activities, but courtesy calls to the man of the moment.

Indeed, Dikko’s media aides must be having a difficult time because they have been busy with the coverage of the visits. However, I am not out to condemn or question the sports stakeholders’ visits to the chairman of the NSC. After all, the courtesy calls have demonstrated the tremendous support for the new NSC Chairman. In recent times, no sports administrator has received such overwhelming acceptance. It is an open secret that any time a new Minister of Sports is appointed, stakeholders dwell more on his shortcomings. Maybe, the case of the new NSC boss is different because President Tinubu actually listened to the clarion call by Nigerians and appointed a sound sports technocrat to lead the Commission.

Therefore, even as there were initial dissenting voices after his appointment was announced, which is normal in Nigeria, the majority of stakeholders have queued up behind Dikko for him to reposition the sports ecosystem.

As a result, it will be wrong to totally condemn the visitors who have continued to troop into the MKO Abiola Stadium to fraternize and cross-fertilize ideas with Dikko for the good of sports. Indeed, some of the visits have provided opportunities for the new NSC chairman to share his strategies on how he wants to develop sports in Nigeria. Personally, I will cite the recent visit of the delegation from the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) led by President Habu Gumel as the most impactful of them all.

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I do not mean that the courtesy calls by the rest of the stakeholders were beautiful nonsense, but the one by the NOC dealt more with the critical issues that have continued to bedevil sports development in the country. In addition, the host himself delved deeper into his strategic plans for the sector, as everything he promised to do points towards the much-needed solutions to the problems militating against sports development.

For instance, Dikko used the occasion to re-emphasized his determination to revive the moribund sporting facilities. Once again, he expressed dismay that Nigeria, a leading powerhouse in world sports, can boast of only one world-class stadium, which is the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.

His commitment to resuscitating sports facilities is a bold step in the right direction because, without standard facilities, it would be difficult or impossible to unearth and develop raw talents for podium appearances. The chairman, therefore, promised to set up a National Sports Infrastructure Development and Management Board (NSISMB) to regulate the construction and maintenance of stadiums in the country.

In addition, he pledged to ensure the early release of grants to boost athletes’ preparation for the Olympics and other international competitions, which was a direct response to Gumel’s earlier observation that the late release of athletes’ grants was responsible for poor preparations and dismal performances at the Olympics.

Nevertheless, Dikko said he is committed to reviving the six zonal offices to engender grassroots sports development; maintaining proper data and graduation of prodigious talents discovered at National Youth Games; ensuring more formidable Sports Federations through more credible elections; involving the private sector for enhanced funding; recovering all abandoned sports assets across the country; and ensuring that NSC staff no longer operate like civil servants but public servants who would be self-motivated to serve the public to the best of their abilities.

So, these were the highlights of the visit by the delegation from the NOC, which I found quite useful. This also underscored my earlier position that some of the courtesy calls actually provided opportunities for the visitors to share productive ideas with the chairman on how to move Nigerian sports forward. This is a welcome development because no one owns a monopoly of knowledge. As sound as he is, Dikko must have benefitted from some of the useful advice that he received from those who visited him with the interest of the sports sector in mind.

However, it is said that too much of everything is bad. The time has come for everyone to allow the NSC chairman to concentrate on the gigantic assignment before him. Dikko is a refined gentleman who is highly diplomatic. I have never seen him lose his cool, even in the face of serious provocation. Therefore, even if he is getting fed up with the visits, he may not wish to offend any of the visitors. I am saying enough of the visits because, having been armed with the prerequisite knowledge and experience to lead Nigerian sports long before he was appointed, I don’t think Dikko needs too many lectures on how to go about this very important assignment of reinvigorating Nigerian sports. Moreover, my people say it is not how long you stay in ‘the other room’ that your wife can conceive twins.

I earnestly appreciate those stakeholders who took time out of their busy schedules to visit the NSC chairman to rub minds with him on how to revamp the sports sector. They deserve commendation because, in view of the high cost of transportation and feeding these days, one can only imagine how much they must have spent to come to Abuja to show their solidarity.

However, even as I am not Dikko’s spokesman, I want to plead with those who are planning to visit him to shelve their plans for now. Instead, they should write down their suggestions and submit them to the chairman. This won’t only save their time and hard-earned resources but enable the chairman to have enough time to address the problems that they want addressed urgently. By the way, among those who are claiming to have ‘useful advice’ are well-known agents of retrogression.

Undoubtedly, my harmless advice will offend some people, especially those who are yet to embark on the ‘holy pilgrimage.’ However, those who genuinely want Dikko to succeed will agree with me that some of the visits are becoming unnecessary distractions and, if not checked in time, would ultimately delay the chairman’s movement. It’s obvious that he is eager to hit the ground running, so let’s not weigh him down with the courtesy calls that can wait until the much-needed renaissance in sports is achieved.