HomeSports What govt should do to take sports out of the woods
What govt should do to take sports out of the woods
Written by Vanguard
Sunday, 26 October 2008
7.NATIONAL SPORTS DEVELOPMENT FUND The National Sports Development Fund shall be properly constituted and registered under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters act as an Incorporated Trust.
Yar Adua
8.NATIONAL TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS SPORTS FUND This Fund shall be registered under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act as an Incorporated Trust.
•FINDINGS FROM BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS The highlights of the findings are hereby summarised as follows:1. Absence of enabling legislation for establishment of National Sports Commission.2. The previous draft Sports Policies do not have legal backing to enforce compliance.
3. Corporate Nigeria’s apathy to sports development due to absence of enabling environment and the lack of openness and transparency.4. Government bureaucracy and late release of funds have been inimical to sports development and performance in major international competitions. 5. Lack of database for proper planning.
6. Lack of in-depth knowledge of sports marketing by the Sports Bodies. 7. Overbearing influence of Government on National Federations and other Sports Bodies. 8. Lack of properly defined incentive mechanism for outstanding athletes and officials. 9. Non use of modern means of information dissemination like, website, emails, etc. by Sports Bodies and administrators has fuelled bad press.
10. Lack of professionalism in sports. 11. Enforcement of age grade guidelines has not been adequately addressed, potentially embarrassing/ridiculing Nigeria in the eyes of the world.
12. Existence of sports training centres in various parts of the country that are not under National Institute for Sports.
13. Absence of dispute resolution mechanism in sports. 14. Absence of adequate sports manufacturing industry. 15. Lack of adequate recreational facilities at different levels of society 16. Moribund state of school sports.
17. Lack of appropriate machinery that can be used for effective cooperation and coordination of sporting activities between the National Sports Commission and the Ministry of Education and its parastatals as well as other relevant Ministries and Government Agencies as it relates to school sports programmes and tertiary institutions sports/games.
18. Absence of clear compulsory school sports programme in primary and junior secondary school levels. At the senior secondary school level there is a budget for compulsory school sports only at the Unity Schools. In the tertiary institutions money meant for sports is channelled to the common pool. 19. Neglect of the concept of fitness as a prerequisite for attainment of a general state of well-being of the populace exacerbated by the sedentary lifestyle of many Nigerians.
20. Insignificant number of Nigerians as members of International Sporting Federations and the near absence of Continental and International Headquarters of Sporting Bodies in Nigeria. 21. Inadequate facilities in many areas, including poor maintenance culture of existing sports infrastructure.
22. Lack of proper machinery to ensure proper coordination of sporting activities amongst the States within the zones despite the existence of NSC zonal offices in the six-geo political zones in the country.
23. Lack of comprehensive insurance policy for athletes and officials. 24. Non disclosure of athlete’s and official’s allowances and other entitlements by NSC and other Sports Bodies prior to competitions, as well as the absence of code of conduct for athletes and officials in terms of their respective rights, obligations and responsibilities.
25. Absence of an open, credible apex games as a platform to select elite athletes for major international games like: All Africa Games, Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, etc. 26. Absence of well equipped and functional Sports Medicine, Research and Psychology units as well as Anti-Doping Centre to coordinate all anti-doping strategies.
26. Absence of well equipped and functional Sports Medicine, Research and Psychology units as well as Anti-Doping Centre to coordinate all anti-doping strategies.
27. Unethical practice of the same Marketer and/or Consultant representing a Sports Body and the Sponsor at the same time and in the same transaction giving rise to conflict of interest. 28. Absence of corporate sector collaboration/involvement in the bidding and hosting of International Games.
29. Nigeria Football Association (NFA) and Nigeria Football League (NFL) imbroglio (See annex A). 30. Inadequate planning and coordination of plans and programmes, lack of clear performance benchmarks and inadequate incentives for Sports Bodies.
31. Lack of follow up action on the initiative of a former Sports Minister (Late Air Commodore rtd Samson Emeka Omerua ) who set up a Sports Hall of Fame. Lack of adequate follow up on existing sports bilateral agreements.
RECOMMENDATIONS In view of the foregoing findings, the Committee made the following recommendations: 1. Enactment of an Act of the National Assembly establishing the National Sports and Fitness Commission (NSFC) that will also give legal backing to the National Sports and Fitness Policy and establish a Presidential Council for Sports and Fitness (PCSF) and the Independent Sports Arbitration Panel (ISAP).
2. Regular publication of guidelines for sports tax rebate incentive. 3. Restructure the NSFC as proposed in the draft bill to minimise bureaucracy and facilitate early release of funds.
4. Sports Bodies to maintain accurate database and information flow by setting up websites and other modern information technology facilities.
5. Sports Bodies to engage the services of professional Marketing and Consultancy outfits in pursuit of their sponsorship programmes.
6. National Federations are to be open to all including corporate and private bodies and to be incorporated as private limited liability companies by guarantee.
7. National Sports and Fitness Commission, National Federations and other Sports Bodies should provide consistent guidelines for sports incentives and awards to deserving athletes and officials. 8. Sporting Bodies should be set up and run as efficient professional outfits that should reflect private sector best practices.
9. Enforce age grade guidelines and ensure the selection process of athletes that will represent Nigeria in all youth and junior international competitions through the school system.
10. Amendment of the National Institute for Sports Act to National Institute for Sports and Fitness Act to expand the scope of function of the Institute, and to include sports research, management and use of training centres in various parts of the country for the training of elite athletes.
11. Government should accord priority to sports manufacturing industries under the SME/SMEADAN programmes using the sports tax rebate incentives, tariff concessions and provision of infrastructure. 12. Provision of sporting facilities in schools should be a pre-requisite for approval of schools while Local Governments should ensure provision of open spaces for community recreation.
13. Earmark and utilise funds for compulsory sports programmes in all primary and secondary schools as depicted in the diagram. Similarly, funding for tertiary institutions sports should be as shown in the diagram. Funding for school sports including tertiary institution sports (including sports levies) should be run as a separate account.
14. Government as a matter of deliberate policy should encourage and facilitate membership of the Executive Committees of International Sports Bodies and also encourage and sponsor the siting of Continental and World Sporting Headquarters in Nigeria.
15. Government to ensure the use and proper maintenance of existing facilities under private and public sector partnership (PPP) and also provide more sporting facilities in areas where they are inadequate.
16. To avoid bureaucratic bottlenecks and to be consistent with the structure of NSFC at the Federal level, State Commissioners of Sports should also serve as Chairmen of State Sports Commissions.
17. The present zonal sports structure should be strengthened and restructured to be composed of all Commissioners of Sports, Education, and Directors of Sports in the zones (other members to be determined by the NSFC). The Chairman should be a Commissioner of Sports and should be on rotation basis. The NSFC coordinator in each zone is to serve as the Secretary.
18. Government, Nigeria Olympic Committee/National Sports Federations and other Sports Bodies, respectively, should provide comprehensive insurance cover to athletes and officials during officially sanctioned training and competitions. Certificates of Insurance should be made available to each beneficiary prior to commencement of training and/or competition.
19. Allowances and other entitlements for athletes and officials should be disclosed to them prior to competitions by Sports Bodies. There should also be a code of conduct for athletes and officials that should be mutually agreed to by Sporting Bodies, officials and athletes.
20. Government to establish an All Nigeria Games for Nigerians irrespective of domicile to serve as a platform for credible selection of elite athletes to represent Nigeria.
21. Government to establish a well-equipped National Sports Medicine Centre and Sports Research and Psychology units to achieve the objectives of providing quality sports medicine care as well as establish National Anti Doping Agency to coordinate all anti-doping strategies in cooperation with Universities.
22. The same Marketer and/or Consultant should not represent a Sports Body and a Sponsor at the same time and in the same transaction to avoid conflict of interest.
23. Provide performance benchmarks for staff of Sports Bodies with inbuilt constant review mechanism as well as incentives for the attainment of set targets.
24. Government in cooperation with the private sector and Sports Bodies to establish a befitting Sports Hall of Fame/Sports Museum (possibly on the premises of the National Stadium, Abuja) to encourage patriotism and sports tourism.
25. The NSFC should take full advantage of existing sports bilateral agreements and pursue new ones with vigour.
26. Hosting and bidding of major international sports events should be on private sector, public sector partnership (PPP) by forming special purpose company that should be headed by a tested and trusted private sector practitioner in order to optimise the potentials inherent in such events.
Interested participants, companies and consultants should be subjected to open and transparent selection process. They should submit measurable objectives, revenue projections, plans and programmes and they will be retained or fired based on performance.
The accounts of such company should be audited by a top tier firm and should be made public to engender overall confidence especially for the corporate sector.
SUGGESTED IMMEDIATE ACTION NFA/NFL dispute – refer to the Committee’s recommendation on resolution and the way forward (Annexe A). Set up National Sports and Fitness Policy Awareness and Implementation Committee. Provide a platform for interaction with corporate world to articulate Government’s new focus on mutually beneficial partnership for sports development.
This can be done either individually and/or collectively including informal meetings - especially in relation to companies and individuals that have contributed substantially to sports development.
Establish the National Sports and Fitness Commission by law.Amend National Institute for Sports Act to National Institute for Sports and Fitness Act. Initiate the process for the release of already approved take-off grant for Team Nigeria Trust Fund Ltd/Gte.
Hosting of the 2009 FIFA Under - 17 World Cup should be on the platform of public sector private sector partnership (PPP) in line with the Committees recommendations.
For increased efficiency, health and well-being of staff of NSC, the Minister/Chairman, NSC should please ensure that all staff who have not gone on Annual Leave over a period of years should be directed to do so.
CONCLUSION Members of the Committee wish to express appreciation to Mr. President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua GCFR and Minister/Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Barrister Abdulrahman H. Gimba for considering them worthy to serve on this important national assignment.
The Committee also wishes to thank Mr. President and the Vice President for sparing time out of their tight schedule to receive members of the Committee in the Presidential Villa.
The interest of the Presidency during the briefing of Mr. President at the Aso Rock Villa by the Committee buttresses the conviction of the Committee that the proposed National Sports and Fitness Policy will be given the attention it deserves.
On a similar note, the Committee hereby expresses appreciation to the National Assembly Sports Committees, Sports Commissioner, Lagos State, Directors of Sports of the 36 States of the Federation including FCT, Corporate Nigeria, Sports Marketing Professionals and Consultants, Sports Lawyers, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, National Universities Commission, Education Trust Fund, Universal Basic Education Commission, National Sports Lottery, National Parents Teachers Association, Sports Media, Retired Elite Athletes, and others for their cooperation and concern for sports development in Nigeria.
We also strongly advise that the performance objectives with the target year of 2020 should be reviewed in 2009 after the Beijing Olympics with a view to our participation in the 2012 London Olympics.
Thereafter, the objectives should be reviewed biannually after major international games like, All Africa Games and/or Commonwealth Games, in the years 2011, 2013, 2015 and a final review and re-setting of the entire performance targets carried out in 2021 after the 2020 Olympic Games. We hope that the Federal Government considers and approves the recommendations in the interest of sports in Nigeria and for the benefit of all Nigerians.
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