By Uzor Odigbo
The Director General of Delta State Sports Commission, Mr. Festus Ohwojero has hailed the switch by the federal government to the National Sports Commission (NSC), describing the move as apt and way forward for sports development in Nigeria.
The DG who spoke to journalists in Asaba said the advent of a Natonal Sports Commission will remove the bottlenecks in the sports sector especially the prompt release of funds for preparations and executions of various sporting bodies for events.
The Director General said the National Sports Commission would also help Nigeria produce a blueprint for sports development as the National Sports Commission would have enough time to produce, prosecute and execute its programmes.
According to him, the Sports Ministry do not have the ability to sustain such programmes as a change in administration could scuttle such programmes, hence derail the development of sports in the nation.
Mr. Ohwojero also averred that the National Sports Commission would be manned by sports experts and technocrats who understand the terrain unlike the current setting where even those who are not sports inclined find themselves in key positions in the ministry.
He said this had been the bane in sports development in Nigeria stressing that the era of National Sports Commissions in the past had seen rapid sports development in Nigeria while the era of Sports Ministry or Council had noticed a remarkable decline in th nations sports sector.
The Director General asserted that Delta States dominance in Nigerian sports was due to its instituting a Delta State Sports Commission since 2008 which had seen successive boards building on the success and gains of its predecessors.
According to Agbayeke Jude’s post on WhatsApp, Mr. Ohwojero urged the federal government to ensure that true sports technocrats irrespective of religion, ethnicity or political affiliations
are appointed to the National Sports Commission,
Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) board member, ex-international and former hurdler Victor Okorie also alluded to the fact that the switch to NSC will serve the country better.
In a chat from his base in the United States of America that with sports professionals taking charge from their different sports disciplines, things ought to move better and faster.