The president of Armwrestling Federation of Nigeria, Engineer Samuel Olatunji Jackson has showered accolades of top shots of the National Sports Commission (NSC) for introducing new ideas that are boosting proper funding of various events in the sector.
Sports247 reports that Engineer Jackson pointed out that the NSC’s chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko, and the director-general, Honourable Bukola Olopade have both encouraged various sports federations to be self-reliant and avoid depending solely on funds from government.
He reeled out words of praise for the NSC while speaking on ‘Hot Seat’ segment of Inside Naija Sports, a live streaming programme on YouTube, now starting at 11:45am every Friday from the studio of Sports247 Naija TV.
The former England-based civil engineer, who played cricket, table tennis and volleyball during his youth days, further revealed that Nigeria’s armwrestling officials always seek private support in order to avoid relying on government for regular funding.
Jackson added, “We’ve been able to achieve a lot through passion among our members, but we can not do it alone. At the same time, government also cannot do it all for everybody.
“That’s why we need private investors. We are also happy that the sports commission is working in the direction of getting the corporate sector involved in funding various events.”
The amiable business guru and armwrestling supremo continued by pointing out that keying into the NSC’s economic innovations in Nigerian sports has helped him and his colleagues move their federation forward.
He carefully explained the procedure, “The best way to propel sports is that the federal government will provide the enabling environment for us.
“We in the federation will use the conducive stage to empower our sport. We’ll use the conducive environment to make sure we take the sport to the highest point.”
Jackson also acknowledged that the issue of funding is not restricted to Nigeria alone, as it also happens in other countries of the world, but each nation has to find effective ways towards overcoming it.
He added, “The issue of funding affects all sports everywhere in the world, but we should look at other areas to solve the problem, not just by depending on government.
“In the UK, they have a trust fund for sports and other types of support systems. I am happy that something like that is now being done in Nigeria, especially with corporate bodies urged to adopt an athlete or a team.
“That’s why I say kudos to the sports commission led by Shehu Dikko and Honourable Olopade for resetting the focus of sports and funding of events in the country,” Jackson pointed out.
