The President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) Sanni Ndanusa has described the move by the National Sports Commission (NSC) to grant more autonomy to the Sporting Federations as a welcomed development and in fact long over-due.
He stated that the new policy would move Nigerian sports forward and make administration of sports in the country in tune with global best practices. “Greater autonomy will definitely make the Federations more effective, especially if adequate monitoring mechanism is put in place,” Ndanusa stated, adding that, “the NSC should give the Federations targets and review their performance yearly to ensure success of this policy.”
It will be recalled that earlier this week, the NSC had announced plans to recall Secretaries of Sporting Federations and empower the Federations to appoint their own Secretaries. This was in line with the Commission’s commitment to reform the Federations and reposition them for greater efficiency.
The NSC will however set the guidelines for the appointment of Secretaries and develop eligibility guidelines that will guide elections and appointments into the Boards of these Federations.
Similarly, Kayode Abdulwahab, President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), stated that the new policy would improve performance and is “akin to putting the right step forward in a race.”
“I am convinced that the Sporting Federations have the capacity to rise to higher pedestal if we enjoy similar support in terms of manpower and sponsorship to what is enjoyed in football”, he said.
Omotose further praised the Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi for being passionate about all sports and for not just being a ‘Minister of Football’.
