In Nigeria, we know that sports and education are usually not a top priority in the federal budget or the state’s budget. According to sportanddev.org, studies showed that a ‘vicious cycle’ is emerging due to the underdevelopment of sports in developing countries. Consequently, lowering the investment in sports decreases the potential for athletes to build their talent. These affect all the sports and their governing bodies.
Why did the Nigerian government ban the Nigerian Basketball team from international competition for two years and later reverse it but decide to write a letter to the Nigerian Football Federation to restructure after their recent failures and challenges?
The answer lies with our National Sports Policy and Sports Development Strategy or Plan. Firstly, how well have we implemented the 1989 and 1999 sports policies? Secondly, do our state governments, and local government authorities understand the policies and how they have implemented them? Thirdly, did the various sports governing bodies enforce the guidelines within their sport?
Currently, the youth and sports development minister is engaged in reviewing the old sports policies and introducing a new direction for sports development in Nigeria. However, nothing has happened in the last two years after the draft copies were released, and it clearly shows that we don’t have a functioning sports policy in Nigeria.
What is Policy?
Policy refers broadly to a set of actions designed to address an issue or achieve specific outcomes. It is often seen as the allocation of resources – deciding who gets what and how it is paid for” (sportanddev.org).
The UN states the importance of policies being ‘integrated’ and defines the policy for sustainable development as the following:
“An integrated policy is one that maximises benefits to the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental – not as a sum, but each in its own right.”
Let’s consider football development in Nigeria and the current policy. Do the current football development policy and strategic plan maximise benefits to the three dimensions of sustainable development, namely _ economic, social and environmental? How well are actions designed to address an issue or achieve specific outcomes? Do the currently proposed policy address the issues around abuse, transparency, accountability, health and safety, funding, community football, school football, grassroots football, volunteering, training and development etc.
If the current youth and sports development ministry and the government could not deliver a sports policy and the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) could not provide a football development strategy plan for the country, on what premise is the president requesting that the NFF restructure to develop football in the country. If for eight years, we could not achieve any meaningful development in the football industry during this administration. It simply means we are playing politics with football.
For any country to achieve economic, social and environmental benefits through football, a national policy and football development plan must be developed for a period of two to ten years. They must be reviewed regularly to ensure outcomes are met within the period.
Together we can make football great again in Nigeria.
