Lawmakers lament state of NIS, want structure resuscitated

The House of Representatives Committee on Sports yesterday urged the Sports Ministry and the management of the Nigeria Institute of Sports (NIS) to resuscitate the institute and make it effective in the training of coaches and other sports workers. The legislators also urged the management of the NIS to effect immediate repairs of dilapidated structures in the facility.

The Reps, who were at the institute as part of their oversight functions promised to help the institute to reclaim its lost glory.

Speaking at the institute, the lawmakers, led by Chairman, House Committee on Sports, Olumide Osoba, condemned the poor state of the school, saying, “We have told them what we want them to do at the NIS and in two weeks time some members of the committee will come back to inspect and confirm what we have briefed them.

“What we are seeing here, I will say is a bit sad… many people come here to get their professional qualifications and now the place looks like a ghost town. It does not look like what it used to be. We need to find a way to bring it back to what it used to be,” he said.

Also speaking at the institute, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Sports, Gabriel Aduda, who accompanied the lawmakers on the visit, said the lawmakers’ visit to NIS would give them clear insight into the ministry’s role in the country’s development.

“The honourable members are invited to note that the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has the mandate to promote the physical, mental and socio-economic development of the Nigerian youth through the advancement and protection of their rights within the Nigerian state,” he said.

Earlier, NIS Director General, Dr. John Dadi-Mamud, had enumerated the problems militating against the institute, saying, “the problem of this institute has always been funding and this is not new to Nigerians. It is easy to put an edifice on ground, but our problem is maintenance. So, maintenance has always been the problem at the NIS.

“They said we should generate funds, and of course during the COVID-19 pandemic, we couldn’t generate anything because the stadium was locked down and there was nothing we could do. By the time they opened it, we tried to double our efforts. I am an insider having worked here for a long time and I know what the problem is.

“What we are focusing now is how to rehabilitate those areas of complaints. In the next three weeks if you come back here, there will be change. We will see how we can raise some money to put things in order. But basically, our problem here is funding and I hope that the Federal Government will assist us next year so that we can put this place in order.”