By Jude Opara, Abuja

THERE was a new twist over the weekend concerning the alleged plan by the Federal Government to scrap the National Sports Commission (NSC). The issue of scraping the commission gained momentum with the merging of the NSC with the Ministry of Youth as efforts by the federal government to reduce its spending.

Addressing the media over the weekend after a meeting of the National Executive Committee of the association, President of NAPHER.SD, Alhaji Yusuf Dauda said the planned scrapping of the NSC is ill-advised and a misplaced priority. He said that sports is a specialized area which needs core professionals to preside over as against the practice where people who knew little or nothing about sports were given the sector to manage.

Dauda who vowed that the NAPHER.SD will use every arsenal within its reach to resist the move also appealed to the federal government to have a rethink because the NSC remains the most potent central agency for the development and management of sports in Nigeria as empowered by decree 34 of August 1971.

“People that have the pedigree in sports professionalism should equally be ministers of sports. A situation where you bring somebody who has finance background to come and be permanent secretary in the ministry of sports; what does he know about sports?. Civil service is a different thing and when we are talking of professionalism.

Can anybody think of putting a health minister who is not a medical doctor or without health background, or a justice minister who is not a lawyer?

“If we have been very lenient and tolerated all this we will no longer accept it because this is part of the problem we are facing today and that is why anybody can wakeup and contemplate scrapping the NSC because he does not know what it entails.

We are in an Olympic year but nobody knows how prepared we are because those calling the shots don’t even know what is needed to be done. So for anybody to contemplate at this point in time to scrap the NSC or rove the Director General, no it is a misplace of priority therefore we will not fold our hands and watch this happen in this country” Dauda warned.