Looking at the success of sports under the administration of sports minister, Sunday Dare, one will say the ministry have done a yoeman’s job in the last three years under the watch of the sports minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria if we should go by the words of the honourable minister. In recent times, sports has fairly made some achievement when taking stock of thier activities in general. It’s been three years since he took the mantle and questions are raised if the recent success, especially in Athletics should be registered as achievement under the leadership of Sunday Dare.
Speaking from the government house in Abuja, the number one sports administrator in Nigeria has claimed that the recent success achieved by Nigeria in sports will definitely be credited to his administration in the last three years. Dare reiterated that the robust team Nigeria of today is as a result of the effort of the sports commission and in his administration as sports minister, however, it’s a joint effort of the ministry, federations and the athletes themselves, he stressed. “The result you see is the work that has been done in the last three years and it’s not just the work of the ministry or the minister, it’s a collective effort. We have seen the various federations respond, the athletes also responded.
“Some of them made efforts to secure admission abroad and get into the collegiate system and so on. We made sure as ministry to keep the athletes on the Team Nigeria. “The efforts of the ministry definitely may not just be enough for the success sports, most especially track and field is enjoying today. Dare shared more light on not just the effort of the ministry but also on the parts of the athletes as they completely play thier own part to bring success to Nigeria. “You need an average 200 to 250 hours of training for a competition, that is if you ever want to compete with the best. Even when the ministry is not looking, they train with thier coaches, we must give them credit for that and that’s the kind of culture we have built over time.”
Recall that In the last African Athletics Championship in Mauritius, few of the athletes lamented the lack of support they get from the government especially financial support. Former Big Brother Naija housemate and Nigeria’s High Jumper, Mike Edwards raised concern about the poor funding the athletes get from the government. Reacting to funding Sunday Dare reiterated the financial benefits of being part of team Nigeria ” We have 14 of our athletes on the NOC scholarship, we want to increase it to 30.
“Some of our athletes are already on 1000 dollars per month and they will get the money until France 2024. People are not talking about it. We have the data. Some have collected 26 thousand dollars in two years and another 20 thousand dollars. When has it ever happened that a Nigerian athlete will get 46 thousand dollars. People are not talking about it. Give government credit because government has invested a lot on the athletes. Maybe not all of them have benefited but we have been faithful to supporting them within the limit of our resources” he concluded.
