The National Sports Commission on Thursday organised a one-day retreat on “Understanding Extant Rules” at the Conference Room of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation at the Federal Secretariat Complex, Abuja.
The retreat, which afforded participants the opportunity to explore every aspect of the Extant Rules guiding the Civil Service, was organised by the Sports Planning, Research & Documentation Department.
It was tailored to meet the individual and professional needs of the Parastatals, Zonal Coordinators and Heads of Sports Federations of the commission under the supervision of the NSC.
Speaking at the occasion, the Supervising Minister and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, stated that the one-day retreat would provide the much needed insight and basic tools to nurture the gains of recent peace moves and seeming understanding among all sporting bodies and groups in the country.
Abdullahi also reiterated that the Parastatals and Sport Federations have to know their limits of authority and levels of autonomy within the structure, if they are to achieve the common objective of moving Nigeria’s sports to greater heights.
The minister stressed that the commission anticipated that the retreat would further broaden the relationships and visions of the parastatals and the supervising ministry, with a view to proffering ways to communicate and operate in a healthy environment.
In his remarks, the Director General of the NSC, Dr. Patrick Ekeji, noted that understanding the Extant Rules of the Civil Service would facilitate a better understanding within the environment of sport administration so that “conflicts” are reduced to the barest minimum.
He maintained that “for us to take sports to the next level, there must be an objective appraisal of the way we manage and develop our sports. The only way this can be done, is to have all the stakeholders closely knit together.”