By Emmanuel Afonne
Bukola Olapade, Director-General, National Sports Commission (NSC), has urged presidents of National Sports Federations to embrace good governance and accountability to attract investment and drive the development of sports in the country.
Olapade made the call at a two-day governance and leadership seminar organised by the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) for presidents of National Sports Federations in Abuja.
He said good governance was essential to repositioning sports as a major contributor to Nigeria’s economic growth and national development.
“Sports has the potential to attract billions of dollars in investment and promote national unity,” he said.
Olapade noted that sporting events often generated widespread public interest and excitement.
He cited the reaction of Nigerians to the national football team’s performance as an example of the unifying power of sports.
The NSC director-general commended the NOC for organising the seminar and urged federation presidents to work together to improve sports administration.
“I want us to have a clearer understanding of Section 16 of the law establishing the NSC to strengthen relations between the commission and the sports federations.
“A common understanding of the law will help clarify the respective responsibilities of the commission, the NOC and the federations,” Olapade said.
Earlier, NOC President, Habu Gumel, said the seminar was designed to strengthen accountability, transparency and administrative efficiency across the national sports federations.
Gumel said the programme, facilitated by an instructor from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), would provide participants with additional knowledge to improve their administrative and operational capacities.
He urged federation presidents to participate actively, listen attentively and ask questions to maximise the benefits of the training.
According to him, the knowledge gained would help the federations improve their administration, prepare athletes for competitions and enhance Nigeria’s performance at local and international events.
Gumel said the seminar was not organised because the federations were performing poorly but to provide a platform for continuous learning and improvement.
“It is important that at any given time you will be reminded of what you are doing,” he said.
He added that the programme would establish targets to guide the federations in improving their governance and administrative practices.
Also speaking, Donald Rukare, President of Commonwealth Sport, said the seminar provided an opportunity for sports administrators to share experiences and learn best practices in governance and leadership.
Rukare, who doubles as Uganda Olympic Committee President, said the programme was designed to strengthen the knowledge and capacity of federation presidents and improve their understanding of the sports governance structure.
He explained that national federations were integral to the Olympic movement, operating through clubs and maintaining relationships with national Olympic committees and international sports bodies.
According to him, the seminar would examine how national federations fit into the national, regional and international sports governance systems.
Rukare said the sessions would focus on best practices, including holding annual general assemblies, regular executive committee meetings and developing policies to guide administration.
He listed board charters, human resource manuals, safeguarding policies and team selection policies as essential tools for effective sports governance.
The commonwealth Sport president said the programme was not intended to find fault with the federations but to promote compliance with established regulations and encourage the adoption of sound administrative practices.
He said the ultimate objective was to ensure that federations were managed efficiently and effectively, adding that similar programmes could be organised on financial management, competition manipulation and anti-doping.
Rukare expressed hope that the seminar would contribute to improved governance across Nigerian sports federations and other countries in the region.
He said the initiative was part of broader efforts to share experiences and strengthen sports administration across different countries.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the seminar brought together presidents of National Sports Federations to discuss governance, leadership and the roles and responsibilities of sports administrators.(NAN)
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Edited by Joseph Edeh
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