NAPHER-SD Charges Stakeholders On Team Work For Development Of Sports
_…”The Time to Make NAPHER-SD Heard Is Now” – Jibrin_
By: Chinedum Ohanusi
The leadership of the National Association for Physical Health Education Recreation Sports and Dance (NAPHER-SD) has joined the growing number of major stakeholders, in the nation’s sports sector in asserting that the state of sports in Nigeria needs improvement.
This and other related observations, dominated the speech delivered by President of NAPHER-SD, Professor Emeritus Florence Adeyanju, at the opening session of the 52nd Annual Conference and Workshop of the association, which ended in Abuja, on Friday.
With the President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Engr. Habu Gumel seated, and President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Alh. Ibrahim Gusau represented by Chairman of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye; Professor Emeritus Adeyanju turned on the screws.
“The present setting is neither what we want, or can be proud of; and we must all commit to changing this narrative.
The best place to start is the basis, and from the grassroots. To achieve a quick turnaround, the Federal Ministries of Education, Health and Sports has to work as a team, to ensure that school sports are fully back. It’s sad that many schools today do not have playgrounds, or sports in their curriculum. The development of our children cannot be solely academic”, she postulated.
Professor Adeyanju, who is also the founder of the National Association for Women in Sports (NAWIS) also harped on the need for partners and teachers to allow children, time and space to play or engage in sporting activities, instead of overburdening their wards with all manners of extra lessons.
Such, she concluded is a major drawback for a nation like Nigeria, as sports is one of the ways to ensure that all facets of the society are fit, physically and mentally sound.
Among the dignitaries at the opening session, was the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Handball Associations, Alh. Saidu Jibrin; who admonished members of NAPHER-SD to take their rightful positions in sports administration and management, rather than leave the future of the nation’s sports in the hands of political jobbers, with little or no passion at all, for sports.
“I played handball from the cadet level (Under-12) to the senior level, and still play the game regularly as a veteran. But despite my training as a Quantity Surveyor, I know I have to be in tune with modern trends in sports management to be able to do my beat, at the [CWHB] Secretariat.
Sports need the right leadership to flourish, and the faces I see here, with your knowledge are what we need to rescue our Sports.
Alh. Jibrin, who is also a member of the Board of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), then urged the leadership of NAPHER-SD to build bridges, not only with the NOC, or Sports Ministry; but take a step further by collaborating with other sports-based bodies, to help change the present unpalatable narrative of Sports in Nigeria, for the better.
The Secretary General of the NFF, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi was at Friday’s closing ceremony, given a
standing ovation by the delegates in attendance, and the hierarchy of NAPHER-SD, for working tirelessly as 1st Vice-President of the body, and with the Local Organizing Committee to ensure a successful hosting of the conference/workshop, at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), in Jabi, Abuja.
