The
2018 National Sports Policy (NSP) draft clearly articulates the vision and
direction of the Federal Government (FG) on sports development particularly on
grassroots sports. National Council on Sports (NCS), the highest policy making
body will have to meet to ratify the policy. The Federal Government’s vision is
to “develop the sports sector to a world class level, taking into cognizance
sports for all, amateur and professional sports by providing programs and
facilities that encourage stakeholders to perform at their best in pursuit of
excellence, while benchmarking with best practices for continual development.”
Three
objectives in the NSP pertinent in this discussion include (1) the promotion of
school and institutional sports development, (2) the emphasis of sports is an
integral part of the curriculum of educational institutions at all levels
(Nursery, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary), and (3) the identification and
development of athletes. The NSP calls on the three tiers of government to put
in place frameworks and mechanisms for the identification, training, nurturing,
and monitoring of talented young athletes.
The
school sports system became the instrument for achieving the above objectives.
This is a global best practice.
When
Sani Ndanusa, former president of the Nigerian Tennis Federation became the
Minister of Youth and Sports Development in 2009 and later the president of the
National Olympics Committee (NOC), he made a commitment to develop and improve school
sports. Subsequent sports ministers made similar promises but failed to
continue the foundation set by Ndanusa, who insisted that a quality grassroot
sports development is needed to create a path to podium success in continental
and global competitions. The path begins at the primary schools.
Ndanusa
and Chief Patrick Ekeji, his Director-General laid an ambitious and progressive
sports development plan to reform the sports sector. The plan included
provisions for the development of grassroots sports to begin at schools’ level
and sought private/public partnership. They released a 13-Point Agenda for Sports
Development. But the plan failed to accomplish its aims or meet its desired
outcomes. Both argued that it failed because it lacked legislative backing and
private sector support.
In
October 22, 2012, former President Goodluck Jonathan organized the National
Sports Retreat to reverse the trend after the National Contingent at the 2012
London Olympics failed to win a single medal. Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the Minister
of Youth and Sports development was determined to revamp the sports sector. He
introduced drastic measures and programs at the national level, but he was
removed and replaced by a new sports minister Danagogo, who failed to continue
with Abdullahi’s programs.
In
2015, a new political party led by President Muhammadu Buhari took over the government
and appointed Solomon Dalung as the new minister of sports who laid out a vision.
Dalung served only for three and half years, but was credited for the reform in
the national sports federations. He believed that functioning sports federations
are the backbone to a successful grassroots sports’ development, especially at
the schools’ level. He encouraged national sports federations to work closely
with state sports associations to invest time and resources to school sports. It
is not clear whether national sports federations and state sports associations
have complied.
When
Sunday Dare, the current the Minister of Youth and Sports Development came to
office in 2019, he declared that infrastructure, grassroot development,
athletes’ welfare and sports as a viable business will be the top priorities of
his administration. Former Minister Solomon Dalung had recognized the need to
revamp school sports and said that “there has been a systemic failure in our
sports development and in our school sports” and observed that “it is only in
the southern part of the country that you still have sporting activities in few
schools, but in the northern part, it is almost dead.” Dalung believed that “states
and local governments have a key role to play in grassroots sports development
where athletes are discovered and nurtured.”
Minister
Dare, in his commitment to address the challenges facing sports development and
improvement, has partnered with governments agencies and the private sector
notably the Nigerian Economic Summit Group to deal with aspects of his programs.
Programs such as Adopt-an-Athlete is getting some great review but there are
challenges ahead.
According
to the 2018 National Sports Policy draft document, sports and education can
coexist. “Sports is an integral part of the formal system of education. It is
essential for the total development of an individual, and sports shall
therefore be part of the school curriculum from nursery school to the tertiary
levels.” School sports in Nigeria started to deteriorate at the end of 1990s.
In the 1970s and 1980s, school sports were vibrant all the country, young female
and male athletes were seen competing actively combining sports and academics in
football, basketball, track and field, tennis, table tennis, etc., and
competing favorably against their counterparts around the world, winning medals
and promoting a positive image of the country.
School
sports is considered one of the most important aspects of Grassroot Sports Development
in countries that value sports both as a recreation and a competitive endeavor.
The most successful nations at the international competitions such as the
Commonwealth and Olympics Games use school sports to identify and nurture
talented athletes for podium success right from an early of age of 5. Young athletes
are exposed to physical activities and sports skills with the dual benefit of
staying healthy and the provision of an opportunity for the discovery of sports
potentials that were nurtured to represent the sporting interests of the
country in both national and international sports competitions. In these
industrialized nations, grassroot sports start from the schools and the primary
schools became the conveyor belt and a feeder system. Facilities are provided
by the government. Programs in primary and secondary schools are monitored. Activities
and results are documented and archived.
One
of the concerns as expressed by many observers and echoed by Dalung is that “what
we have now is that state governments leave sports development to federal
government.” He also believed that “budgeting is another bane confronting
sports development. He said that “budgeting for sports have not been
encouraging and urged the Nigerian legislature to change its attitude to sports.”
The
Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON) is the primary organization charged
with the responsibility of organizing and coordinating school sports in the
country. The YSFON is to liaison with national sports federations and state sports
associations to organize competitions in their respective sports.
One
of the major problems mitigating against the revival of school sports is the
government effort and the buy-in of politicians. Other problems such as
coaching, funding, and private sector support are also critical. Minister Dare is
aware of this malaise. He has promised to expose Nigerian coaches and technical
officials to modern techniques in coaching and officiating. It is widely
believed that youth coaches need a specialized coaching technique, he said. Moreover,
the lack of or poor implementation of the National Sports Policy undermines
public trust and public and private sector interest in investing sports
especially at the school’s level.
As
the National Council on Sports (NCS) meets next week in Edo State, following
the postponement of the National Sports Festival tagged “Edo 2020” by President
Muhammadu Buhari due to the possible infiltration of Coronavirus’COVID-19 into
the country, the extra ordinary council will have the opportunity to reconsider
the return of the National Sports Commission as a legal, moral and legislative
authority to guide the return of school
sports. Some of the recommendations for NCS include reevaluation of physical education
curriculum, primary schools, strong directives for junior and senior secondary
schools, increase funding, monitoring of sports federations, engagement and
provision of incentives to the public and private sector, and strengthening the
capacity of institutions of sports.
Our
suggestions and advice therefore are:
·
Ensure
the school curriculum has at least 3 hours of Physical Education (PE) per week
in it
·
Physical
Education (PE) teachers and games masters in schools should be engaged in
talent identification especially education in primary schools and junior
secondary schools.
·
There
must be a strategic synergy and partnership between the sports and education
agencies at the state and federal levels.
·
Every
state sports ministry/commission must have a functional school sports
department.
·
Introduction
of an effective scouting system to work in talent identification at primary and
grassroots levels
·
Proper
training of youth coaches. Not every coach can work at school and grassroots
level.
·
Grading
and classification of coaches is essential. Different qualities and expertise
of coaching education required for the 3 stages of school/grassroots sports
development
·
Provision
of sports facilities in schools and in communities.
·
There
may be a need to include availability of sports facilities as a criterion for
registering new primary and secondary schools.
·
Work
closely with private schools who usually have sports facilities and use these
as training hubs for other schools in the neighbourhood.
·
Regular
holiday training camps for identified sports talents
·
Regular
inter-schools’ competitions and state-wide competitions.
·
Setting
up local government sports committees in all the local governments under the
guidance of the state sports commissions/ministries.
·
Effective
engagement of the private/corporate sector for funding partnerships and
sponsorships, especially with companies whose target markets are the youth.
·
State
sports commissions/ministries must become more developmental-driven rather than
competition-driven and therefore more on programs and activities in this regard.
·
State
sports associations need to lead the way for their various sports in their
states
My
thanks to Dr Kweku Adedayo Tandoh, former Director of Sports, Lagos State and
former Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission and Dr Sadiq Abubakar Abdullahi,
Adjunct Professor, Curriculum Studies and Global Education, Florida
International University, Miami, Florida, USA, for their expert, professional
and very useful ideas and contributions to this article.
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