The ministry will continue to keep its door open for collaboration with relevant stakeholders, private sector investors, the civil society organisations as well as the global sports community, Minister of Sports Development Sen John Owan Enoh says.
“Take advantage of the incentives put in place by the current administration to invest massively in the development of sports in Nigeria.”
Enoh gave the assurance on Thursday when he met with the members of the Dream Sports Africa led by its Country Director, Mr Michael Anejo, at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja.
He said the new vision and thinking of government under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu now is that sports is seen as both recreation and business.
To jumpstart the desired transformation of sports in our country, the minister said this new vision of government, the Federal Ministry of Sports Development under his watch, will fully unlock the economic potentials of sports in Nigeria.
“Sports has a great potential for wealth creation, employment generation, poverty alleviation, social inclusivity and the ability to make substantial contributions to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product GDP,” Enoh noted.
According to him, “in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration, the government has endosed the National Sports Industry Policy (NSIP) approved by the immediate past administration.”
“The Ministry is committed to ensuring the implementation of the policy by expanding and improving School Sports Games, implementing a strategic plan to define the growth path for discovered talents, improved welfare for athletes and Public Private Partnerships for upgrade of essential sports infrastructure across the country,” he added.
“My organisation will go back to the drawing board and identify critical areas it needs to partner with the Ministry and the Federal Government,” Director, Dream Sports Africa, Mr Michael Anejo said.
He expressed joy that the minister has accepted to meet with their organisation to discuss areas of collaboration that will drive Sports Development across the country,
Anejo said they will partner Governmment at ensuring the realization of its policy objectives as it relates to sports development in line with global realities.