Okunnu laments death of sports
By Adeyinka Adedipe
FORMER Vice President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Femi Okunnu, has said that until a holistic approach is taken towards the development of sports in the country, Nigeria would continue to lag behind in international sports competitions.
According to him, the government should attract the enabling environment for sports to develop while corporate orgnisations and individuals should contribute their quotas towards sports development. However, he faulted the call for enactment to compel corporate organisations to support sports.
“I don’t agree that government should come out with a policy on companies’ participation in sports. They should not be compelled to support sports,” he said. “What should be done is for government to create an enabling environment to encourage private participation in sports.”
The legal luminary, who was a member of the hockey national team, said it is not possible to depend on government alone to fund sports, stating that those who administered sports in the past committed their personal funds to its development.
He also blamed various sports federations’ chairman for not doing enough to woe sponsors: “Before I decided to sponsor tennis, I had sponsored hockey at the state and national levels,” he explained. "And every year, I had to chase the chairmen around for the sponsorship instead of them coming to come.
“The chairman of Hockey Association in Lagos State and at the national level have not even approached me for a very long time now to see what I still intend to do for the sport. This is bad and it would work against development in the country.”
Speaking further on why Nigeria would continue to find it difficult to excel at international competitions, the former Federal Commissioner for Works said that preparation, which is the prerequisite for success, has been neglected.
According to him, "it would be difficult for Nigeria to do well in international competition because we leave preparation to the final moments to the game and this is a very big shame. That is why the likes of Kenya, who go to competition with fewer athletes do better than Nigeria.
“To me, I think we are big for nothing if we continue to play second fiddle to countries like Kenya, Burundi and Ethiopia at international sporting events. We have potentials here but we have refused to develop them for the benefit of the country.”
He added: “Even in the golden year of Nigeria athletics in 1996, there was still problem of non-payment of allowances and that is, you see Nigerian athletes defecting. Most of them who defect are interested in their development and the development of their sport. The moment this cannot be guaranteed, they leave for countries that will take care of their aspiration.”
He advised the government that those who know about sports should be saddled with the responsibility of running it in the country.