Former director general of the now defunct National Sports Commission (NSC), Alhassan Yakmut, has emphasised the need for President-elect, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, to ensure full implementation of the National Sports Industry Policy (NSIP) approved by the outgoing Federal Executive Council.
Speaking during an interactive session with sports journalists in Abuja, the former international volleyball star specifically urged the next administration to design and construct contemporary NSIP implementation strategies for the sports industry to start flourishing.
He commended the outgoing administration for initiating the sports industry policy, which outlines an effective means of improving the funding of sports, delineating the obligations of the different tiers of government, the participation of the private sector and other stakeholders in sports.
“The National Sports Industry Policy (NSIP) came at the point when an administration was coming to an end and the new president had been elected. So, the next administration needs to fill in the gap and ensure full implementation of policy.”
“The policy is well drafted and documented. The new regime will now have to also design and construct very contemporary implementation strategies for the sports industry policy to flourish,” he said.
Yakmut also tasked the incoming administration on the implementation of 10-year football masterplan approved by the Buhari administration.
“The football master plan was supposed to bring us out of the doldrums of running football for peanuts rather than for economic development.
“UK’s economy has been turned around by football and football is being quoted in the stock exchange. But here in Nigeria, football is a community project, like social service, and that is what we need to change,” he said.
