The Sports Revolution in Nigeria begins!

1. NASCOM shall organise 6 sports events to be competed for by State Academicals in the course of the new academic year. These are selected events in Track and Field, Table Tennis, Basketball, Tennis, Swimming and Football! More will be added next year! 2. All secondary schools in Nigeria must register talented students in their […]

1. NASCOM shall organise 6 sports events to be competed for by State Academicals in the course of the new academic year. These are selected events in Track and Field, Table Tennis, Basketball, Tennis, Swimming and Football! More will be added next year!

2. All secondary schools in Nigeria must register talented students in their school to participate in at least two sports competitions in each State.

3. It is only the students that are registered by their schools to take part in the intra-State schools competitions, that shall be eligible to represent their State at any or all of the 6 sports introduced by NASCOM.

4. After the State competitions the best discovered students from any of the schools in the State will be assembled by the State Sports Councils in conjunction with the NSSF, and registered as the State’s academicals to participate in the national academicals competitions.

With these in place we believe we would be on the road to reviving sports within schools. All schools will have to revive some sports activities within them in order to present athletes for any of the competitions. Where the competitions take place, how they take place, etc. will be the challenge for each States’ School Sports Federation working closely with the State Academicals Sports Committee (SASCOM) that includes each State’s sports councils. From next year NASCOM shall propose that specific competitions organised by each State government, funded by it, will be introduced to drive sports revival within the States. That way, any State lagging behind in sports development, in youth engagement and empowerment, will only have itself to blame for not joining the progressive train of NASCOM.

Critical success factor – eradication of age cheats!

There is one critical element that I must address here. Without this issue out of the picture completely the essence of this entire project will be defeated and the project will become meaningless and will fail. It is the scourge of cheating, mercenaries, falsification of documents, and use of non-students in age-group international competitions.

This issue is the greatest single retarding agent of sports development in Nigeria. The tragedy is that whereas everyone appreciates this problem, it has defied all solutions, so far. That’s why to succeed this time NASCOM has decided to attack it frontally and with all vigour and seriousness. Genuine students have been denied for too long the opportunity to participate in sport and benefit from doing so. Where non-students, older persons, and mercenaries (moving from one institution to the other) take the place of genuine youngsters and students, it is society that bears the consequences in breeding a generation of cheats, deprived youngsters, cheating parents, and teachers, principals, coaches and administrators conniving to perpetuate this stunted development in morals, ethics, and sports. This ugly practice makes our achievements to lack credibility and makes us inauthentic (even before the international community) as many of our cheating athletes have found out when rejected for presenting false documents in embassies when attempting to go abroad to enjoy the benefits of numerous scholarships available overseas for talented athletes. The right kids are denied this access and opportunity! This must stop NOW!

Data Collection

NASCOM, in conjunction with all educational and sports stakeholders, has taken the bold step to introduce a registration process, with a data bank of information on all student athletes in secondary schools in Nigeria, that will be vigorous, authentic and that will restore the integrity of our schools system and provide correct information on school athletes!

Hence forth NASCOM shall prevent any Nigerian that is not registered in school from representing the country at any under-17 national and international competitions. At that age All Nigerian children are supposed to be in school. No one outside of secondary school shall represent the country. The spin off effect of this is a catalyst to help the country to achieve its MDG target to eradicate illiteracy and out-of-school children in the country by the 2015. This policy shall drive enrolment of the youths back to school, will keep them there even if they want to pursue careers in sports. There will be no more short cuts to victories in age-group international sports events that undermine the integrity of our country, deprives genuine youngsters the opportunity to participate and benefit from sports, and create a large number of school drop outs that leave school in pursuit of professional sports. It will restore to genuine students the opportunities to showcase their talent, represent their school, their state and country, and give them the opportunity to benefit from participating and excelling in things that have been usurped so far by cheats!

The registration process provides the key to the success of this initiative. Schools shall register to participate in at least 2 sports. Schools shall present a list of the students that shall represent them in the sports selected that year. The list of the students, plus all their basic information shall be attested to by the school’s Principal who will swear to it before a commissioner of oaths in a court of law, or before a Notary Public. The bio-data (finger print and photo) of the student athletes will be captured and will be available on the worldwide web. Once captured no vital information of the student can be changed again for life! NASCOM shall be working in conjunction with the Sports Network Initiative, SNI, a registered body of all institutional sports in Nigeria with the responsibility to collate and maintain the data of all student athletes in all institutions in Nigeria.

Any false information provided by the schools will be investigated by the Monitoring/Policing Committee and any culprit principal or owner will be handed over to appropriate authorities to be dealt with!!

Only students registered through their schools, that have participated in an inter-schools competition, can represent a State in the National Academicals Championships. Only such students shall also be eligible to represent Nigeria in any international under-17 competition. NASCOM shall send this decision to all relevant sports agencies for their knowledge and action.

The national student-sports card

Each registered student will be presented with a Card

The card is an ID Card

• The card is a licence that permits the student to participate in any or all secondary schools competitions organised in Nigeria

• The card opens a savings account in a bank, with a token deposit that the student can access. It will help develop a savings and banking culture amongst the youths.

• The card is an insurance card that provides year-long cover for all student athletes against injury, medical treatment, accident (on and off the sports courts, fields and tracks), and against death!

• The card provides the opportunity for a student to be part of an annual support scheme for those that either excel in their sport or are too indigent to afford school fees!

• Finally the card is the only licence that proves the authenticity of a students status and will facilitate authentication for foreign studies, scholarships, visa applications, entry into the national teams, etc.

Beyond Sports

In the past 3 months we have visited the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, the DGs of the Tourism Corporation, NAPEP, and FRCN, as well as the offices of the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Air Staff, the United Nations, Universal Basic Education (UBEC), etc. Why these visits?

The ultimate vision of NASCOM transcends sport.

NASCOM has a moral responsibility to prepare student-athletes presently in secondary school for a life beyond the academicals. Its Diaspora Committee made up of successful former-international athletes in the USA will work tirelessly to support as many students as are qualified in sports and academics to proceed to higher institutions in the USA where they can combine their sports with further academic pursuits. The committee is already working.

Take sports tourism for example. The Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation has captured the vision and has already given NASCOM the responsibility to create a Caribbean/Nigerian Games for students of the Caribbean and Nigeria. I can reveal to you that the first games between the two communities will take place in the summer of 2012. The Games shall include not only sports but will promote Culture and the Arts. A friendship will be cultivated between the two communities that will facilitate the promotion of exchange programmes between them.

NASCOM has taken the challenge of Mr. President very seriously. We have been working tirelessly for months. We are quite conscious of the Nigerian factor that cripples bright ideas and renders them impotent even before they start. We are fully aware of the problems and challenges that we shall encounter along the way. But we welcome the challenges and remain undeterred. We believe achieving this is a mission that will change the face of Nigerian sports, the youths and education for ever.

We have no illusions about the enormity of the obstacles that stand between us and success, but for the good of our children, for the future of the next generation, for the unity and peace of our country driven by the youths, we have a responsibility and a mandate to make our own little contribution to the desired transformation agenda of Mr. President, and make a difference. That’s all we can do… make a difference.

There is still a long way to go in this marathon race, but we pledge and promise that we shall not give up, no matter the odds, for that is the stuff great sportsmen are made.

(Excerpts of a speech delivered by me at a press conference last Thursday in Abuja)