The President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has said his administration is committed to making Nigeria the best sporting nation in Africa.
Jonathan, who spoke at the Presidential Retreat on sports development in the country on Monday, said it also remains his intention that Nigeria should be among the top four Commonwealth countries in the sports arena.
The President said the vision is achievable with hard work and dedication.
He said: “Make no mistake: Our commitment is to become the best sporting nation in Africa, be among the top four sporting nations in the Commonwealth and ultimately rule the world.
“This vision is not only realistic, it is also achievable with hard work, greater sense of purpose, and dedication.
“Without doubt, our sports industry has developed rapidly, with good prospects for sustained growth. We can only tap this latent potential through adequate investment and proper governance structure. Today, our financing channel for sports is singular, the investment channel is narrow, and the source is unsustainable.
“The medals table of the last few Olympics is a strong indicator that Sports is now a major tool for demonstrating economic and social strength by countries. Sports must therefore remain a major element of our vision for national rebirth. It must constitute a driving force and indicator of our progress towards becoming one of the leading 20 economies of the world by the year 2020.”
Jonathan said it had become glaring that to achieve success in the sporting arena, financing must be tackled.
He, however, said even the meagre resources available now must be properly managed, adding that he had set the machinery in motion to achieve adequate financing of the country’s sports.
He said: “If we must achieve excellence and meet the objective requirements for the rapid development of our sports industry, then we must broaden the financing base of the industry and create the right conditions for private sector funding and investment in sport.
“Adequate funding of sports is very crucial to this endeavour but efficient and transparent management of resources is key. This is why I have set up a committee under the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, to work out a strategy for sustainable management of funding of the sports sector.
“The Federal Government will continue to do all that is necessary to improve our sporting fortunes. I believe that the State Governments are also doing the same. The private sector should now do more by investing in the sector. If you do business in Nigeria, your number one brand identity is Nigeria.
“It is my hope that at the end of this retreat, we would have come out with a clear practical and measurable action plan that will pave the way for greater sporting glory for our dear country.”
Jonathan said the retreat must yield fruits quickly for the country to move forward as the results of the last Olympic Games was nothing to cheer.
He said: “Our gathering here today must lead to our coming up with workable solutions to the most critical issues underpinning sports development in our nation. One of the vital questions facing this retreat is: ‘why do some countries excel in sports and others do not?’ Providing answers to this question is an important responsibility we must all discharge.
“Whether we are going to turn the situation around or not, depends largely on what we collectively agree here as Federal; State; and Local Governments, as well as private businesses and as athletes and managers.”
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