By Muhyideen Jimoh

Newly appointed Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Malam Shehu Dikko says his priority is to develop a viable and lucrative Sports economy for the nation.

Dikko stated this on Wednesday in Abuja when the former Minister of Sports Development, Sen. John Enoh formally handed over to him at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium office, Abuja.

The chairman  said  that his mission was not to engage in quick fix or just winning medals for the country, but a holistic sports development in line with international best practices.

”The objective of Mr President is to harness the full potentials of the Sports Economy in Nigeria.

”So we have to first change our mindset from the fixation of just competitions and winning medals and come back and fix our domestic sports development”.

”When we set the foundation right the results and the winning of medals will naturally come in a sustainable manner and that should be the new mindset,” he said.

Dikko said part of his mission was to ensure that sports becomes a money-spinner and contributes at least three per cent to the nation’s GDP in the next four years.

”The thinking of Mr President is that after  having some of these structures in place, we should be able to measure the country’s sports by its contribution to the nation’s GDP by at least three per cent.

“We should also be able to measure the number of jobs sports and its value chain are providing in the country in the next  four to five years and indeed our competitiveness across all competitions and tournaments,” he said.

The former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) second vice president, said he would focus on three pillars of proper legal framework, world class infrastructure and using sports to drive the economy.

“Our administration will be focused  on three pillars including running sports as a national asset, that is entitled to special privileges, regulations and concessions to drive growth and development.

”We have to also work on legislations and regulations so as to set the framework to enable the industry to grow effectively like what happened in the communications industry some years back”.

”The other Pillar is investing in purposeful world class infrastructure that will provide an enabling environment for growth,” he said.

Dikko called on all stakeholders to support the  new NSC in its drive to reposition and transform sports development in the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Bola Tinubu on Oct. 23 appointed Shehu Dikko as Chairman of the National Sports Commission.

This was after the president scraped the Ministry of Sports Development and had its functions transferred to the Commission in order to revitalise the nation’s sports economy and improve performance in international competitions. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Joseph Edeh