Ribadu covenants re-engineering of sports management

Abuja – The ACN presidential candidate, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, on Friday in Abuja promised to re-engineer sports administration in the country if  victorious  at the April polls.

Ribadu, who spoke at an interactive session with  journalists,  said sports in the country  deserved  better attention.

The former EFCC Chairman said his government would ensure that non-professionals  were not put in charge of sports.

“ When I come into government, I will ensure we re-engineer the way we run sports in this country.

“ First,  I will put a sportsman in charge, a professional that can deliver,” he said.

Ribadu said further that his government would concentrate on putting in place a viable sports policy while it would ensure  provision and management of  facilities.

“We will work out a deliberate programme to ensure that we put in place a sports policy that will enable athletes to be motivated and rewarded  while our plan of action will involve allowing the professionals to run the sports.

“Government really has no business running sports, and that is why there will be no government interference in the running of the sports associations.

“We will only ensure we put in place facilities and maintain them.

“I will discourage state governments from running sports associations and bodies.

“ We should let the private sector take over. At best, there should be no direct involvement.

“Like I did at the EFCC, we can set up sports bodies that can be models, as we all saw with the FC Abuja,’’ he said.

Ribadu,  who listed the gains of sports to include fame, gainful employment and economic returns,  said he would  ensure Nigeria regained  its sports greatness.

“When I was in charge of the anti-corruption agency, I did something for sports, including sponsoring a schools sports event.

“ Now, despite the heavy responsibilities of my office, I will still do more.

“This is because sports is one sector that can make this country great, make it healthy and engage the youths positively, help to give us a good image and earn good money.

“From the first day in office, I will give sports good attention,’’ he said.( NAN )