Sport Minister, Dalung, Declares State Of Emergency In Nigeria’s Sports

                                                                                                                                                                       

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has declared a state of emergency in the country’s sporting sector.

This followed the poor performance Team Nigeria at the Rio Olympics in Brazil last month.

Dalung made this declaration receiving the National Sports Reform Committee report presented to him by Godwin Kienka, the Chairman of the Committee.

The Committee was set up by Dalung in April to deliberate on how to restructure Nigerian sports and report back to him in September.

Explaining  the rationale behind the declaration, Dalung said Nigeria as a nation lacked so many functionality in many segments of the sporting industry and requires measures to reposition it by redesigning the architecture of the Sports Ministry.

He said: “Part of the measures that have to be taken is a holistic appraisal of the entire sport industry.

“Look at so many things.

“The way they have been doing them, audit some of the things that need to be audited, look at our facilities and see how we can position them in accordance with position we are.”

On the report submitted, Dalung said the ministry will set up a committee that will review the recommendations made by the committee after the National Youth Games in Ilorin, Kwara State, with a view of implementing and gazetting them and work assiduously towards the legislation.

He said: “We shall immediately put in place the committee that will review the report, get it ready for recommendations within the short time and kick start them immediately.

“Those recommendations that need legislation or the major challenges that need to do with football administration will be equally taken care of.

“We will be doing this until we shall have a refined architecture of the sports industry in Nigeria.”

When asked how long it will take the state of emergency to last, Dalung replied: “From now to a period we shall get the report from stakeholders and a time that we will get the road map ready.”

 

A member of the committee and former African queen of the track, Mary Onyali, has asked the minister to implement the recommendations fast so that Team Nigeria  can better the 1996 Atlanta Olympics feat it achieved.