Anxiety in NSC over plan to engage COOs for operations

Plans by the National Sports Commission (NSC) to introduce a corporate governance structure and appoint Chief Operating Officers (COOs) for its various departments as part of a restructuring programme has reportedly unnerved the secretaries, who, hitherto, operated as the COOs of the sporting federations.

The NSC leadership, on Tuesday, held a strategic meeting with presidents and secretaries of various sports federations in Abuja.

The meeting marked the first official engagement between the NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, and Director-General, Bukola Olopade, with federation leaders following the recent institutional changes in Nigeria’s sports sector.

At the end of the meeting, Director-General of the NSC, Olopade announced that as part of the Commission’s efforts to improve governance within sports federations, it will introduce a corporate governance structure and appoint marketing-driven Chief Operating Officers (COOs).

Another source at the meeting told The Guardian, yesterday, that such practice, if fully operational, might render the ‘powerful’ secretaries redundant or useless in the various sporting federations.

“To a large extent, the secretaries are the major problem of our sports. Some of them go the extra mile to create problems or even frustrate the presidents and board members of the federations by engaging in ‘under table’ deals, inflating flight tickets money and doing all manner of things to the detriment of the athletes and coaches. I support the plans of the NSC.

Maybe, some of the secretaries might be recalled to the Civil Service Commission if they become surplus to requirement at the NSC,” the source stated.

However, there are also some stakeholders, who believe that doing away with the secretaries will be counterproductive.

“How do we determine the ability of the consultants?” one concerned stakeholder asked when he heard of the plan. “When you hire a consultant and an operating officer, you have established a foot soldier that takes over the business of the sports industry and drives it any way he likes,” he said.

Earlier, Olopade had revealed that the NSC was making significant strides in tapping into the lucrative eSports industry, which is valued at millions of dollars globally.

“We are also working on tapping into the millions of dollars in the eSports industry, and very soon, the Federation of eSports will be well-structured to join the league of Nigerian sports federations.

“One thing we have also worked on is getting a consultant to come work with the Commission. Mr Bambo Akani, Founder & CEO of Making of Champions will be our consultant, working closely with the Commission to develop a relationship with the elite athletes across all the sports through the Elite Development and Podium Board,” Olopade revealed.

He also announced plans to establish a training fund for exceptional athletes, which will commence in February 2025. The fund, according to Olopade, will ensure athletes receive financial support for training well ahead of major competitions.

“Once we do that, we will start paying their training funds long before a major event. The days of athletes getting training grants at competition venues are gone,” Olopade stated.

The Guardian recalls that the immediate past Minister of Sports, John Owen Enoh, was bashed by many Nigerians following his decision to pay athletes’ training grants in the middle of the Paris Olympics.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Rugby Federation (NRF) has braced the trail by appointing Babatunde Adeluola as its COO, an effort that has been commended by the National Sports Commission.