…. Indicts Senate, Reps Committees of sports
By Olajide Fashikun
Secretary General of the Commonwealth Handball Federation, General Ishola Williams (retired) has
come hard on the nation’s flop in the Olympics saying that the nation’s seat of power, the Presidency aids and abets the quality of corruption in the nation’s sports sector.
In an e-mail response, the former President of the Handball Federation of Nigeria said, “People, conducting a study is not the issue. We have done many such studies, therefore we have the 3Ms and the Plans and Programmes. With 40 years experience in sports at the national (which makes me have relationship with the ministry of Sports/National Sports Commission whose other name is corruption and confusion.
Given that I have served at the continental and International levels and being a member of our National Olympic Committee (NOC) for nearly 30 years, I can speak with some authority on this issue.
He added, “There are the usual series of reports and studies, including reports of visits to Australia and by the Australians for National Institute of Sports (NIS), at the Presidency and at the Commission itself (Please talk to Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, ex NFA Chairman, Segun Odegbami and Barrister Adokiye Amasiemeka for details).”
When new Ministers are appointed, they do not bother to do better but carry go. In doing this, the Director General puts the Minister under his armpit. No woman has ever been appointed DG or Minister of Sports and maybe there will be a change
The rot is sports is aided and abetted by the Presidency, the Sports Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives and by Ministers who are there to take not to give the best. I challenge any one of them to deny. The same goes for the top echelon of the staff of the NSC.
I led a power point presentation of a report on how Nigeria can realise his full potential in sports with less government funding and intervention to late President Musa Umar Yar’Adua. The late President was enthusistic, the then Vice President and now President was nonchalant.
Of course, the then Director General (Dr. Amos Adamu) and the present one (Chief Patrick Ekeji) convinced the corrupt Minister to kill the whole report even after approval by FEC.
Therefore, what we need is to put square pegs with integrity in square holes for the implementation of the recommendations in those series of reports and studies.