A Nigerian Visiting Scholar to the School of Sports and Exercise Medicine at the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Volta Region, Ghana, Prof. Oluwaseun Omotayo, has commended the Minister of Sports, Hon. John Owan Enoh, for his realistic approach in the sports sector.
Prof. Omotayo, who spoke from Ghana, noted that the Nigerian sports sector was at the juncture where it needed to be moved from the current delimited focus on merely participating in global sport fiestas to managing it as a net contributor to national revenue drive and enhanced Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Prof. Omotayo, who is also Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) Sports Psychology Association of Nigeria (SPAN), Acting President, Africa Sports Management Association (ASMA) and Board Member, World Association for Sports Management (WASM), stated:
“I listened to the Hon. Minister of Sports on The Morning Show this morning and I see a realist that needs the support of Sports Professionals to succeed with his realistic approach given the dynamic trait of the Sports Industry. His predecessor in office achieved the Sports Industry Policy. He should ensure professionalism in sports management along the tenets of the World Association for Sports Management (WASM).
” As a professional myself of over 38 years experience in the Sports Sector, what I have observed is that Nigeria Sports for long has been delimited to mere participation at the Olympics, Commonwealth, Africa Games etc, all of which are competition aspects of the Sports Industry.
“The truth is that Competition constitutes just a segment of the Sports Ecosystem. Performances at Sports competitions are ends. But Nigeria Sports Development template does not take seriously the means to that end. These means are well enshrined in the Sports Industry Bill which needs professionals for implementation to input the ends to the barometer of successes at Competitions.
“With the Sports Industry bill passed and redesignation of sports as Business I think there seems to be hope for the Industry to be developed and grown sustainably. What is required in my view is policy implementation like the Hon. Minister mentioned on The Morning Show. A policy is as good as the implementation Road map . Implementation of the policy should not be jobs for the boys. The Hon. Minister should follow the ECOWAS Sports Policy Implementation approach of setting up IRMAC comprising sports professionals.
“I was the Consultant/Resource Person for the just concluded ECOWAS Y&S Policy document at the Center Ouagadougou. The Hon. Minister for Sports needs the policy implementation roadmap to take Sustainable Sports Development (SSD) beyond rhetoric to engender Sports-for-Development.
There is a long way to go. In going the long way, we should go the right way,” Prof. Omotayo added.
Leave a Reply