Now my eyes are on the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) following the

appointment of Silas Agara, as Director General, thanks to president Bola Tinubu. For those who do not know him, this DG will make things happen.

The job of Deputy Governor in Nigeria seems to move people to their political grave yard. Many who occupied that position in the past are hardly in the news. Agara has shown that if they were spare parts under the governors, deputies can move on to more responsibilities.

He was appointed Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State in 2015, by Governor Umaru Al – Makura and remained loyal until 2019. After that tenure, Agara has held various positions – Federal Commissioner, National Population Commission, president, Karate Federation of Nigeria and Chairman, Nationwide League One.

When he first emerged in 2003 as Nasarawa State Commissioner for Sports under Governor Abdullahi Adamu, things began to happen. Nasarawa United was founded in that year. In three years, the team qualified for the CAF Champions League.

While Nigerian League champions, Ocean Boys crashed out in the preliminaries of the 2007 CAF Champions League, Nasarawa defeated ASFA Yenenga of Burkina Faso in their debut, beat Gambia Ports Authority in the first round and had one leg in the group stage until Al Hilal of Sudan stopped them through penalty kicks.

Al Hilal had two Nigerians, Kelechi Osunwa and Ndubuisi Eze, who between them, scored 13 goals in that edition. Nasarawa dropped to the CAF Confederation Cup, joining Dolphins and Kwara United. For the first time, the country had three representatives in a continental tournament.

Again the familiarity factor failed Nasarawa as they were edged out by Kwara United. Another Sudanese side, Al – Merrikh, punished the remaining the two remaining Nigerian sides.

In Group B, the Sudanese hammered Dolphins 6-1 and pummelled Kwara 3-0. Endurance Idahor tormented his countrymen and scored against them.

Due largely to Agara’s efforts, Nasarawa remained a strong force in the Nigerian Professional Football League. As Deputy governor in 2016, he propelled the team to the grand finale of the Federation Cup in 2016. That gave them another continental ticket.

Continental appearance elevated Lafia, with hotels and small scale businesses making gains. That is the power of sports which Agara applied as President of the Karate Federation. He got the Japanese government to sponsor a tournament at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.

This tie with Japan will help the NDE boss. There is so much to gain from the Asians. As a leading power in technology, they have so much to offer. In automobiles, young Nigerians could be sent to Yokohama or Nagasaki to train as technicians.

Agara may need the input of Emmanuel Otiotio, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Japan. The Japanese can boost rice production here. I was in Oguchi, Nagoya in 2002, on the invitation of Otiotio, who extended the same gesture to a group of ten Nigerians.

The Ambassador took us to a rice planting session, supervised by the Mayor of Oguchi, Ei Sakai and attended by the American Envoy. The beautiful thing was that the Mayor wore Niger Delta traditional attire. Partnering with the Japs will help Abakaliki and Ekpoma rice farmers.

Sports has not really been exploited to create jobs. With his background, I believe Agara will change this narrative. Our young men and women resort to terrorism and other criminal acts when there is no place to channel their emotional energy.

For starters, the DG may create Sports Centres in each of the six Geo – Political Zones. These Centres should have modern training facilities to engage our Gen Zee population. By the time they wake up early in the morning for training and do same in the evening, there will be no time for crime.

Through sports, they can earn good money. Football pays, inside and outside Nigeria. Boxing yields huge money. All the superstar athletes of Jamaica have their origins in Nigeria. We have similar genes.

It will help to initiate plans immediately. Two Sports Centers in, Lafia in the North and Owerri, in the South will test the ground. The herdsmen versus farmers crisis in the Middle Belt and the Unknown Gunmen attacks in the South – East will reduce through youth engagement in these modern training opportunities.

All these will not tamper with the NDE statutory roles of Vocational Skills Development, Small Scale Interventions, Rural Employment Promotion and Special Public Work.

I guess, many do not know that Agara is a journalist. He was in Owerri briefly with National Post. The man is also highly detribalised. Some of his post graduation days were spent in Port Harcourt.

Governors Hope Uzodinma and Simi Fubara have a willing ally that will support employment opportunities. Sports minister, John Enoh, will also benefit tremendously from the establishment of well equipped Sports Centres.

The NDE Director General is bereaved, having lost his wife, Dr. Jummai Agara, in June. I know him to be a good husband and passionate lover of development. The spirit of his spouse will propel him to attain greater heights in this endeavour.