Pesident Bola Tinubu to appoint Mallam Shehu Dikko as chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC) is generating serious interest in the country’s sports circle.

President Tinubu, on Wednesday, scrapped the Sports Ministry to pave way for a rejigged NSC, which had been previously dissolved by the Muhammadu Buhari administration in 2015.

The Commission has a rich history, dating back to the era of Empire Day Games. It was first established officially in 1971, however, it was first dissolved in 1995 and re-introduced in 2007.

Dikko, arguably one of the best football administrators in the country, is now saddled with the responsibility of overseeing sports development.

Stakeholders, however, have expressed contrasting views on the Kaduna State-born administrator. For some, Dikko has never operated outside the football circle both locally and internationally since he came to limelight, and might find it difficult to turn around the fortune of the nation’s sports.

Some analysts who spoke on radio monitored by The Guardian in Lagos are of the view that “the problem with Nigeria, sports inclusive, is that we consider every appointment as an avenue to pursue other agenda. Until this mindset is changed, no system will work. Doctors have been running the health care system yet it is in shambles.

“That office is the engine room of the nation’s regulatory institution and indeed the entire sports industry. Like other supervisory or regulatory agencies such as Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) etc, it should be occupied by result-oriented professionals.

“Our sports administration at federal level has traversed this route before and severally too, it ended up with the appointments of strange bed fellows into its leadership levels. Well, may be Dikko is coming with a magic wand that will correct the challenge of timeous execution of plans, which are contingent of funds. We all know that timely release of funds for programmes is extremely key to success, but the story many may not know is that funds for sport is allocated from ‘left overs’ after categories A to C Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been allocated theirs.”

Some, however, believe that Nigeria sports will benefit from Dikko’s wealth of experience and clout from the private sector, his international sporting contacts and connections will be very pivotal in the new direction Nigerian Sports will be headed in the coming months.

Dikko was former NFF Vice President and later Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC). He also served as chairman of various committees in the NFF, including marketing and sponsorship. He was a member of the CAF Inter-Clubs Committee, and is still a member of the FIFA Football Stakeholders Committee.

President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Chief Tonobok Okowa, thanked President Tinubu for taking such bold, decisive and forward looking decision to bring back the NSC.

“My President, the sporting fraternity in Nigeria and the rest of the world will forever remember this bold statement you have made with the National Sports Commission for good, and Nigeria sport will surely flourish in leaps and bounds in the years to come,” Okowa said.

Speaking further, Okowa, who is Vice President of Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), as well as President of Africa Region II Athletics, said: “President Tinubu means well for the youths of this great country, and that explains why he brought back the NSC and appointed a sports technocrat to add some fillips to sports. Youths are the back bone of any economy and President Tinubu is doing just that with these moves.”

He hailed Tinubu’s choice of Dikko as chairman of the NSC: “Shehu Dikko is a round peg in a round hole and his appointment is befitting. Dikko will bring some fresh thinking and drive into sports development in Nigeria. His vast knowledge and experience will help put Nigeria sports back on track,” Okowa stated.

Former Nigeria sprinter, jumper and hurdler, Coach Seigha Porbeni, said: “The return of NSC is the return of professionalism to sports management in Nigeria. It reduces quackery in sports management practice, and also removes bureaucratic from the system. Sports development as the name implies, is that the ministry main objective is for grassroots sports development. The ministry has no place for technocrats, coaches and athletes. It was like walking into a hospital to find only nurses, nurses’ assistants, cleaners and no medical doctors or surgeons. However, the NSC can only achieve its desired goals if and only the right people (technocrats) qualified coaches are employed as head coaches to all the multi medals sports.”

Former Green Eagles winger, Adegoke Adelabu, now a sports scientist, said: “The position of the NSC needs a highly intelligent sports administrator who is vast in all the rudiments of sports and international recognition. For Shehu Dikko to succeed as NSC chairman, he should get intelligent people around him.”

On his part, former Nigeria 400m hurdler and current Athletes’ Representative on the board of AFN, Dr Okorie Henry Chinedu, said: “At least, we now have someone who has a link to sports. What Dikko needs now is to look deep to choose a Director General that is highly educated in sports and sports science and experienced technocrat.

“To head other technocrats, the DG has to be very experienced. The NSC is for technocrats, and it is for production of high performing coaches and athletes across the country. Shehu Dikko, even though he is a football specialist, has a lot of experience in private sector sports marketing and management. The stability of the NPFL in recent years is evident of his capacity. If he can employ similar prowess in ensuring politicians don’t continue to hijack National Sports Federations, but people with feasible blueprints, I am confident he will succeed.

“Secondly, coming from football that has the least government interference, Dikko stands a better chance to limit the excesses of such interference in other sports and let the potentials from various sports disciplines drive the renaissance we crave for,” Okorie stated.

Former Director General of Delta State Sports Commission, Chief Victor Onogagamue, said: “To know what to do and to do it the right time and in the right place is the beginning of success. This is where professionals and technocrats with right mindset come in.

“I remember the days of Dr Amos Adamu and Dr Patrick Ekeji as sports leaders, they sought funds and support through marketers, contacts and aggressive sponsorship to keep sport going before official funds were released. I cannot fully explain how they did the magic.

“Those professional (Dr. Amos Adamu and Chief Pat Ekeji) provided the sports industry with inspirational leadership and mentorship during their impactful reign as DG Sports (NSC). They were generals with the ground troops. They were very efficient and effective. The helmsmen of a supervisory body must statutorily command adequate knowledge of the sector.

“We will continue to advocate that the regulatory agency of any critical government sector must, therefore, be staffed with people with bundles of technical knowledge of industry. Sports should not be different or an exception. The new NSC must return our lost glory in sports development, administration and management,” Onogagamue said.

However, former international, Harrison Jalla, said the appointment of Dikko as chairman of the NSC was not in the best interest of sports.

“Barely a year in office, President Tinubu has demonstrated that he is very pragmatic in terms of financial investment in the sector. Despite these efforts, the President may not succeed in achieving a vibrant sports sector because his appointments in the sports sector, thus far, have been ill-advised and politically motivated,” Jalla said in a statement made available to The Guardian.

“The former Minister of Sports, John Enoh, was a huge mistake, while the appointment of Dikko is nothing encouraging. On what basis was Dikko appointed? Certainly not on merit. Dikko’s track record as Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC) is in the public domain for all to see. Under his leadership, the flagship of Nigerian domestic football, the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), died. In 2022, after 11 years as LMC chairman, Dikko was removed from office, and the NPFL had been reduced to ground zero. The federal government had to step in to rescue the NPFL.

“President Tinubu, being a listening leader, will soon receive a formal and official presentation from stakeholders outlining why this appointment is an aberration and cannot stand. It is now crystal clear that Nigeria’s retired sportsmen and women have no future in sports administration,” Jalla stated. (Saturday Guardian)