The Minister of Sports, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, inaugurated the boards of 20 sport federations in Abuja on Friday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the inauguration followed the just-concluded elections into executive positions of various sports federations.
The boards of athletics, badminton, basketball, chess, cricket, darts, fives and squash were inaugurated.
Others were table tennis, deaf sports, para-soccer, taekwondo, gymnastics, judo, karate, tennis, traditional sports, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling.
However, the board of the Handball Federation of Nigeria was not inaugurated, due to a court order.
Abdullahi said that the National Sports Commission complied with the order, pending when the issues surrounding the federation’s board election were resolved.
According to Abdullahi, the 20 inaugurated boards have an onerous task to achieve at the next Olympics as President Goodluck Jonathan had given the NSC a target of at least five gold medals.
He said that to achieve the task, the boards of seven selected Olympic sports must prove that their victories at the elections were merited.
The minister named the sports as athletics, weightlifting, wrestling, taekwondo, shooting, boxing and football, noting that they were the sports in which Nigeria had comparative advantage.
The minister said the selected sports were subject to review, adding that more would be added if they showed positive signs of winning medals at international events.
He noted that the Presidential Retreat on Sports held in October spurred the NSC into action.
He said: “One of the key objectives of reconstituting the boards at this time is to reinvigorate and reposition them for effective service delivery.
“After the 2012 London Olympics, we came under tremendous pressure to disband and dissolve the boards of the various sports federations.
“It would have been the dramatic thing to do and many people would have hailed us for being very decisive but we are committed to following due process.
“That is why we did not follow the path that everybody was expecting us to follow.
“That is why we waited till this time to allow the tenure of the incumbent to play out and organise the election at the appropriate time.
“By doing so, we have fulfilled our commitment to following laid down procedures at all times and also in the spirit of democracy that we try to deepen in our country.”
The new Director-General of the NSC, Gbenga Elegbeleye, said that time had come for Nigerian sports to reclaim its lost glory.
Elegbeleye said: “This is the final lap of the democratisation process of the national sports federations. It is time to give support and make necessary contributions that will positively transform our sports.
“Be alive to your responsibilities and discharge them with sense of commitment to ensure speedy development of sports and optimal performance of Nigeria at international competitions.
“The score-cards of the sports federations are being analysed and the outcome will be made known to Nigerians.”
Dotun Oladipo