The Director-General of the National Institute for Sports (NIS), Comrade Philip Shuaibu, has called for an investigation into the activities of past Ministers of Sports over what he described as the deliberate neglect and mismanagement of the institute despite years of significant budgetary allocations from the Federal Government.
Speaking on the current state of the institute, the former Deputy Governor of Edo State accused successive administrations of intentionally crippling the NIS for personal and political gain.
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“It was deliberate by the ministry to destroy the NIS for their selfish interest,” Shuaibu stated.
He particularly decried the misuse of facilities designed for athlete development — including the Athlete Development Centre, commissioned by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007.
“That structure was meant to camp Nigerian athletes, not for rent or personal housing,” he said.
“Yet, people who have nothing to do with sports are living there, and someone is collecting money from it. Ministers upon ministers have come, and the facility is still not being used for its intended purpose.”
Shuaibu, who was appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reform and revive the institute, urged the National Assembly to summon all past Sports Ministers from 1999 to date for questioning over their roles in the decline of the NIS.
“The National Institute for Sports is supposed to be the engine room for producing athletes, coaches, and sports scientists. Instead, it was grounded by those who should have strengthened it,” he added.
Established in 1974 by then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, the NIS was created as a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Sports to train coaches, sports managers, and scientists, and to conduct research aimed at advancing Nigeria’s sporting excellence.
