Leadership (Abuja)
29 March 2009
For the present campaign by the federal government to rebrand Nigeria to be effective, sports development must be given adequate recognition, legislative backing and funding.
Over the years, sports have played a tremendous role in laundering the image of the country which was battered by corruption, crime and military rule.
Relegating sports to the background in this odious campaign to reposition Nigeria would be likened to a soldier going to war without the most important ammunitions.
To this end, the Nigerian Universities Games Association, NUGA believes that the crusade to rebrand Nigeria should begin by developing and promoting NUGA, NIPOGA and NACEGA games.
Scribe of the Nigerian Universities Games Association, NUGA, Bola Orodele said in Abuja last week that some of the athletes that have promoted the image of the country are products of the NUGA games and the other aforementioned institutions.
As the rebranding hots-up, Orodele believes that if NUGA is funded to the tune of N300million each year by the federal government, the face of Nigerian universities will change in terms of sporting facilities, discovering and the development of athletes.
"Let the federal government appropriate about N300million each to NUGA, NIPOGA and NACEGA every year and the faces of universities will change. Athletes like Mary Onyali and Olusoji Fasuba are products of the NUGA games. We have the talents in these institutions but we do not have the needed resources to train them for optimum performances."
Orodele said the idea of upgrading infrastructure and sports facilities only when a university is hosting the NUGA games does not augur well for sports development in Nigerian universities."
On sponsorship, the NUGA scribe said it has been difficult for NUGA and universities authorities to break through, noting that sponsorship in Nigeria has been on man know man and not on the programmes or activities that one wants to sell.
"It is the person that takes the programmes to the private sector that gets the sponsorship and not the institution or programme. So sponsorship in Nigeria is based on man know man."
Orodele said if NUGA and other institutions are included in the budget, the face of sports in universities will change.
"The problem NUGA games has been facing is that, when you go to the National Sports Commission, they will tell you that your budget is with the federal ministry of education and the latter will also tell you the same any time we are hosting the NUGA games. So we want the federal government to appropriate funds to NUGA and the other institutions directly, rather than letting it pass from hand to hand."
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