Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)
Some stakeholders in Nigerian sports have congratulated the President-elect Maj Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) on his victory in the general elections and have outlined ways on how sports can be better developed in the country.
Buhari will be sworn in as Nigeria’s President on May 29, replacing President Goodluck Jonathan in Aso Rock, and the stakeholders believe the incoming president has much to do in taking sports to a higher level.
Nigerian athletes have achieved relative successes in recent time as they excelled at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, won the 2013 U17 FIFA World Cup, featured in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, won the 2014 Africa Women’s Championship and recently won the CAF African Youth Championship.
Buhari will be sworn in as Nigeria’s President on May 29, replacing President Goodluck Jonathan in Aso Rock, and the stakeholders believe the incoming president has much to do in taking sports to a higher level.
Nigerian athletes have achieved relative successes in recent time as they excelled at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, won the 2013 U17 FIFA World Cup, featured in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, won the 2014 Africa Women’s Championship and recently won the CAF African Youth Championship.
A former Green Eagles forward, Adokiye Amiesimaka, wants the President-elect to introduce a revolution in the management of Nigerian football.
Amiesimaka spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria while congratulating Buhari on his victory.
The ex-international suggested that Buhari should strive to resuscitate football, saying the country’s objective should be to develop the sport at the grassroots.
“I believe that the new administration should focus on building a strong grassroots development programme; football is a unifying force and should not be treated with kid gloves,” Amiesimaka said.
“When we have been able to get our grassroots right, every other thing will fall in place; not the usual fire brigade approach we always apply.
“We should be focusing on developmental programmes rather than engage merely in competitions; we need to re-orientate football fans about long term results and not immediate gratification.
“Things should be done as it should; things will be a lot better. There are rules that should be adhered to.”
Former Nigeria internationals, Henry Nwosu and Olatunji Fasimoye, harped on infrastructural development for athletes.
Fasimoye, who is an ex-rugby player, said Nigeria presently has no standard rugby pitch, insisting that if such facility was in place, it would ensure the development of talents at the grassroots level.
“What the new administration needs to do first is to put in place the right structure to administer sports properly in Nigeria,” Fasimoye said.
“We need to realise that sports has gone beyond what is done just to keep fit alone. It is now a means of employing youths and taking them off the streets. The government should put the needed infrastructure in place for sports like rugby.
“The focus should not only be on football because what we presently have in the other sports is just the efforts of a few individuals to ensure that these sports do not die.
“Government support is really needed from the new administration to move sports forward.”
Nwosu, a former coach of the Flying Eagles, said the outgoing administration did well for football and called on the incoming administration to build on the achievements.
He said, “The Jonathan administration has really done well in football and it has achieved a lot. The administration has given the Nigerian national teams the needed support and apart from not qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, all the teams did well.
“The incoming administration can only do better than what the outgoing one has done. They should realise that sport, particularly football, is what really unites Nigeria.
“We leave our differences behind and jointly celebrate when the Nigerian teams are playing; we jointly criticise them when they fail to perform. The new administration should build on the success that the outgoing one has achieved to ensure the sustenance of the winning spirit.”
For Olympic medallist, Falilat Ogunkoya, Buhari’s government should focus of developing sports at the grassroots, and also appoint retired sportsmen and sportswomen as sport administrators.
She said, “They essentially need to develop sports at the grassroots. Then in sports administration, they should appoint people who featured in sports to the highest level; people who have sports at heart. They should appoint former sportsmen and sportswomen to run sports. That way, things will go right. If they appoint people without sports background such people will be getting advices from different angles and it will be difficult for them to do well.”
She urged the incoming government to carry on with the practice of appreciating past and present athletes who do the country proud at international events.
“The President really encouraged people that won medals for Nigeria. The new government should continue that. And they should also encourage the athletes that made Nigeria proud in the past and make sure they are living well,” she said.
The President of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation, George Ashiru, said the new government needs to hit the ground running considering that the All-Africa Games will hold in a few months.
The 1987 All-Africa Games silver medallist said, “I don’t know what agenda the incoming government has for sports development. But what I do know is that by the time they come in, we would have started our fire-brigade approach to the All-Africa Games because we only have a few months. There will be no time to raise budget issues or getting approval from anywhere.
“It has to be more or less jumping straight into the fire and making sure that we do well. Nigerians will not forgive any government that does not allow us to do better than we did in the last edition, regardless of their circumstance.”
“During the military era, there was a lot of investment in sports because the military like sports. I believe that Gen. Buhari will have the passion for sports that the military is known for. The incoming government should make sure there is continuity in the areas where things are working well, and changes where people have complained.”
Super Eagles players Vincent Enyeama, Sone Aluko and Elderson Echiejile took to the social media platforms to congratulate the President-elect and express their expectations.
Enyeama wrote, “#CONGRATULATIONS to our great country’s president elect. Gen. Mohammadu Buhari.#DEMOCRACYWIN #NigeriaDecides.#SUPERGOD help you to take NIGERIA to the next level of greatness #Graceandfavourbewithyou.”
Echiejile wrote on Twitter, “Congratulations to our President-elect @ThisIsBuhari, You kept the fight and believed #ProudNigerian.”
“I [enjoin] every Nigerian to be supportive of the new administration. As a nation we cannot afford to fail. We will remain as #OneIndivisibleNigeria.”
Aluko wrote on Instagram, “To whom much is given, much is expected! #NigeriaHasDecided. Hopefully, the start of a bright, transparent era in Nigerian leadership and governance. Over to you APC and Gen. Buhari. This success came with strings attached from your voters! #change.”
KAZEEM BUSARI, ALLWELL OKPI AND IDRIS ADESINA
