TheCable

Sunday Dare, minister of sports and youth development, on Thursday, received an award for his “contributions to sports development in Nigeria and the Olympic movement.”

The ‘outstanding youth and sports minister’ award was presented to Dare by the executive board of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) led by Habu Gumel, its president, in Abuja.

At the occasion, Gumel highlighted what he described as Dare’s “numerous and outstanding achievements” that include the emergence of the “National Sports Industry Policy (NSIP), Adopt initiative, revamping of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), payment of monthly stipends to the families of departed sports icons as well as providing financial support to ailing former and active athletes.”

“Another remarkable legacy was the delivery of the Headquarters and Secretariat of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) by the Federal Government, which was commissioned by the President of the International Olympic Committee, Dr. Thomas Bach,” the NOC president said.

In his response, Dare attributed the successes he recorded to the support he received from the sports federations because of their direct dealings with the athletes.

“I salute the resilience of the sports federations, their sacrifices and work in developing sports in Nigeria deserve commendation. In spite of all the challenges of funding, they still turned up for international competitions thereby giving the athletes the needed exposure and training required to compete at the elite level and you all know that without these athletes, nothing is possible in sports, there will be no achievements,” he said.

According to the sports minister, funding is one of the biggest challenges of sports development in Nigeria, but he believes the newly approved NSIP will alleviate it due course.

“The incentives outlined in the Sports as Business Policy have been approved and will be announced soon. The technical committee has put finishing touches to the document and it will become fully operational soon. This will drive private sector support for sports and there will be a massive turn around as the funding issues will be confronted headlong,” he added.

“I want to specially commend the Nigeria Olympic Committee for offering scholarships to many Nigerian athletes, ensuring they combine their participation in sports with education.”