By John Egbokhan

Tournament Director of the Lagos State Governor’s Cup Tennis Futures, Prince Wale Oladunjoye has identified greed, ignorance and lack of passion as the major factors stunting the growth of sports in Nigeria.

Oladunjoye, who since 2000, has been steering the organisation of the Governors Cup tournament, said a new type of purposeful and people-centric leaders were needed to take Nigerian sports out of the pit of inactivity to the realm of success.

Speaking in an interview with Saturday Vanguard Sports, the former Senior Special Assistant on Sports to the immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, said it was inconceivable that a nation that once dominated in sports was now a shadow of itself, warning that urgent and drastic steps have to be taken to halt the drift into oblivion.

“I really do not know how we got into this big mess that we are in. We used to be up there but are now struggling to keep afloat. It is strange how we drifted to this level. But I am hopeful that with the right kind of purpose-driven leadership that we will get out of this self-inflicted slide”, he said.

Going down memory lane on how the concept of the Governor’s Cup Tennis was revealed him in a trance, Oladunjoye said it took painstaking planning, dedication and selflessness to sustain the tournament for 16 years of unbroken sponsorship.

According to the former Special Assistant on Grass-roots Sports Development to Fashola, “the secret of the success of the Lagos State Governor’s Cup is God and the support of the past governors, Bola Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola and the incumbent, Governor Akinwumni Ambode.

“Without the support of these great servants of the Centre of Excellence, we would not be celebrating the Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis. We owe them a great debt of appreciation for giving us their total support through the years, to make the tournament the huge success that it is now. Above all, the credit goes to God, for giving me the idea and nurturing it to limelight”, said Oladunjoye.

While admitting that the challenges of managing an international tennis tournament for 16 years are enormous and demanding, Oladunjoye said his passion for sports, managerial acumen and zero tolerance for greed and aggrandizement have made his job less cumbersome.

“I must say that it has not been easy but my passion for sports, the welfare of our players, long years in management positions and zero tolerance for greed have been the principles guiding me in this journey of life.

“One of the problems hampering our sports development is greed on the part of administrators. With a greedy administrator, it is difficult to sustain a tournament. I thank God that over the years, we have waxed stronger while other tennis tournaments, who started before us and after ours have since packed up.

“This is an unpleasant situation because our dream is to have more tournaments so that players will have more avenues to hone their talents and become better players, who will be earning millions of dollars, that the likes of Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic are sharing weekly”, added Oladunjoye.

Speaking on the business of sports, he regretted that Nigeria was not making money from sports like other countries, noting that it is time for the country to adopt the business model used by countries renowned for great sporting prowess.

“Let me also state that the business of sports is key. Fee paying is a major ingredient in sports development. If you don’t pay fees, it is going to be difficult to put enough money in the pocket of our players.

“Fees paid at the Wimbledon Open, US Open, French Open, all the Masters Series , Challengers Tournaments and leagues like the English Premier League go in some way to offset the money that players get.

“So if we want to make our players big money earners, we must start cultivating the habit of paying fees to watch them play. We must change our attitude to sports patronage. It is not free. It is entertainment, recreation and should be paid for, in order for our players to benefit front plying their trade”, added Oladunjoye.