Musa Nimrod, the president of Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF), has urged state governments to endeavour to employ athletes as this would enhance the development of sports in the country.
Nimrod told newsmen at the closing ceremony of the 2019 African Nations Beach Volleyball Cup for Men and Women Championships that states government were not doing their part in sports development.
He said sports needed to be developed from the grass roots, adding that it was unfortunate that most athletes were now only being employed by military and para-military bodies.
“Clubs will prefer to send their players to club championships so that they can grow. Only military and para-military bodies employ athletes and this must end.
“We need to go back to the 70s and 80s when athletes were being employed by state governments. Now, states are no more doing their jobs.
“They need to support and encourage us to develop the game in the country.
“We will no longer have Boko Haram and the kidnappers if these youths are well engaged,” the NVBF president said.
Nimrod said also that the volleyball federation did not receive support from the federal government or private organisations to host the African championships for better beach volleyball development in Nigeria.
“Beach volleyball has a product to sell. So, let sponsors come and partner with us. We have teams from 21 countries who participated in this championship, but we (NVBF) did it all alone,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the championships began on Sunday at the Jabi Lake beach volleyball court, and ended on Saturday.
The tournament is being hosted by the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF), in conjunction with the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB).(NAN)
