Finance plays a major role in the execution of a multi sports event like the National Youth Games and for its sustainability there is a need for financial transparency.
But at present, a lot is still opaque as far as the hosting, participation and execution of the National Youth Games is concerned .
The Federal Ministry of Sports Development under the leadership of Senator John Enoh Owan was able to show the way to go on as far as transparency in the financing of a multi sports is concerned.
The ministry was deliberate by announcing the total of twelve billion naira as the financial cost for participating and execution of the Paris 2024 summer olympics games and the Paris 2024 Paralympics games.
The ministry also settled the reward mechanism for medalists by attaching various amounts of money in terms of reward for every medal won.
The Athletes daily camp allowance at the games is also in the news.
This is a simple template for the State Ministries to follow as it will aid proper planning in terms of budget and sponsorship for the events, otherwise the present financial recklessness might cripple the games in the near future.
For example, an Oil rich state like Rivers State cannot afford to send their athletes to this year’s edition because of lack of finance .
This is a red signal to their future participation and more states might emulate the ugly trends which might affect the whole essence of the National Youth Games.
As a matter of urgency, there is for the Sports Ministry to demand financial transparency from the states.
Nigerians need to know how much it costs to host the games, and how much they recoup as revenue from the games, from sponsors and tourists.
The participating States Sports Ministry needs to reveal their budgets and cost of financing the games, and how it was funded, beyond waiting for the State Government ‘donation’ every two days or three days for participation in the event.
The budget of preparing each athlete needs to be sorted, their camp allowance at the games proper and the reward plan for each medal won.
The sustainability of the games clearly depends on all these financial transparency as the old ways of no accountability and financial opaqueness is not good for the future of the games.
We saw how the various state governments are struggling to meet their basic responsibilities due to the current economic realities and removing the ‘extra burden’ of participating in the next National Youth Games might be an easy option for the states.
It was reported how delays and late release of funds affected some states in this year’s edition of the games.
It’s time to turn a new leaf and time for the State Ministry of Sports and State Sports Commission to start working on new ways and methods of financing the games and the first order to help this cause is financial transparency.
