A cousin of mine once said in pidgin English, that “if somebody do wetin you no fit do, make you hail am because e no easy”. That is my honest advice to all the 36 States of the Federal Republic of Nigeria plus the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. And they should be thanking the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), whose Governing Board is ably led by Chiedu Ebie Esq, for doing what they should be doing for the youths in their various States.

The NDDC is a federal agency established in 2000 by the Olusegun Obasanjo regime with an objective to “facilitate sustainable, rapid development in the nine oil-producing states of the Niger Delta with its headquarters in Port Harcourt. It drives infrastructure, education, and economic empowerment projects—such as solar lighting, road construction, and skills training—to foster regional peace and prosperity. And why was this done? To help appease the restive youths who were agitating for better deal for their region from the government and the oil companies that were taking their God-given resources but not giving them anything in return.

In its Human Capital Development programme, the NDDC said that it will among other things, start educating the youth of the region to curb militancy. Somehow it didn’t understand that one of the best ways to curb militancy is by taking the youths off the streets through sports. Or maybe it knew but felt that there were ministries of sports in all the states of the Niger Delta region which are in a better position to handle sports competitions. However, the agency decided last year to add sports to its core areas of focus when it decided to host the maiden edition of the Niger Delta Games in Asaba, Delta State. Kudos must be given to those who conceived the idea of the Games and sold it to the Agency which gladly accepted it.

Understanding that it should be a nursery for the discovery of hidden talents, it restricted it to athletes aged 20 and under who must not have participated in any senior competition before. That first edition was won, surprisingly, by Bayelsa State, a state that has been consistent lately in churning out athletes that have been giving the big sports States like Delta, Edo and Lagos a run for their money. And just a couple of days ago, the second edition hosted by Edo State came to an end with the host emerging the overall winner with a total haul of 52 gold medals, beating her eternal rival and sister State, Delta to second position while the defending champions, Bayelsa was displaced to third position.

At the closing ceremony, Ebie assured the audience that the Games will hold again in 2027 with these words “see you next year, somewhere in the Niger Delta.” Apart from an almost flawless organization, the organizers must be commended for its zero tolerance to cheating by fishing out overage athletes, those who had participated in elite competitions before as well as mercenaries as athletes are supposed to represent only their States of origin. This, including ensuring that only Niger Delta indigenes participated is determined by NIN, certificate of Local Government of Origin and other valid government documents.

Another reason why the NDDC should be commended for the Niger Delta Games is that it places conditions for prospective hosts to meet before they can be awarded the right. Like in major Games across the world, there is a bidding process which starts with the interested States notifying the organizers of their desire which is then followed by inspection of facilities, which includes the availability of a standard tartan track in a stadium which stands must be covered. This process allows States to develop their sports infrastructure for continuous use by their athletes along after hosting the Games.

It is therefore not out of place to “urge the State governors to seize this opportunity, emulate the model, and harness sports to drive youth development in their States”, according to a retired Director in the defunct Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Dr. Steve Olarinoye. Though the South East, South West, North East, North West and North Central Development Commissions were created not too long ago, they should emulate the NDDC to add sports as one of their areas of focus to also discover budding talents from their regions. Apart from helping to keep youths off the streets and not be readily available for recruitment by the various terrorists groups now in the country, they will be useful to their families, States and the country at large in national, regional and international competitions. Athletes discovered from regional Games such as the Niger Delta Games would become handy for their respective States during the bi-annual National Youth Games from where Team Nigeria’s representatives for both the African Youth Games and the Youth Olympics are selected.

So it is a win-win situation for all, the States as well as the various Development Commissions across the six geopolitical zones of the country. A time has come when the three tiers of government in the country, the Development Commissions as well as Corporate Nigeria and well-meaning Nigerians should start seeing sports, not only for recreation anymore but business from where foreign exchange could be earned once the young athletes of today are nurtured to stardom and become professionals like we have in great sporting countries of the world. For example, Brazil as a top exporter of locally groomed football talents is reported to have generated approximately US$314 million per year as transfer fees through her football clubs between 2003 and 2023. Again in the last decade (2016–2025), Brazil reportedly ranked second globally in transfer revenue from locally trained players, earning about 2.6 billion euros, that is 260 million euros annually. This translates to approximately N416 billion. If this amount comes to Nigeria yearly through sports, our Naira will appreciate tremendously and the economy will no doubt become buoyant.