As August 21, 2020, makes it a year in office for The Minister Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, we take a look at his 366 days in office and landmark achievements he had been making and setting standards for his peers in other ministries to follow.
In this second tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari in office, of his all about forty-two ministers, Youth, and Sports Development Minister has been a star performer in a cabinet full of best brains and intelligent personnel but Mr. Sunday Dare has over the time showed his sagacity, charisma, and tenacity not to deter or perturb by market noise and or side talks to jeopardize his efforts at bringing unmatched development to sports sector and empowerment of teeming Nigerian youth to liberate them from idleness, joblessness and also prevent them from engaging fraudulent activities.
As a sports minister, Dare so many Federations and associations under his supervision with each one with its perennial problem ranging from elections crisis, malfunctioning/non-functioning federations, corruption loaded associations to deal with. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) leading the pack of these crisis rocking federations. It is a known fact that NFF can’t go a year without one crisis or the other.
When Dare came on board as sports Minister, some hypocrites had approached the Minister with different stories aiming to either mislead him or trying to sway him to their side but the minister been an intelligent and very focus fellow decided to look away from the problems of any association but faces the daunting task of making life more meaningful for Nigerian youth and creating a new sports sector that virile, buoyant, performing and success achieving.
Worthy of note is that successful sports ministers in the past who had tried to meddle in the NFF crisis had been led astray or got drown with the crisis most ended up not performing or achieving success. This is because the NFF crisis has overtime proved to be a moving river that will see anybody that fails to stay away or pass bye its wisdom.
Even though NFF is not only the federation with crisis under the sports ministry, Mr. Dare had been able to work gallantly over the river by refusing to listen to noisemakers and mischievous fellows who n daily bases questions at his door to cook up stories for the minister to work on but Mr. Dare has continued to ignore this rumor peddler putting his energy on creating career opportunities for Nigerian youth using information technologies and innovations.
In the space of one year, in a move that underscores his absolute confidence in the innovative skills, talents, and industry of the Nigerian youth, President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday 22nd of July led the Federal Executive Council to approve the establishment of the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) to the tune of 75 Billion Naira for 3 years following a proposal by the workaholic Minister.
The establishment of Nigerian Youth Investment which is focused to reduce youth restiveness, unemployment, provides succor and bring to the fore ideas, skills, talents enterprise of the Nigerian Youth, even as it would turn them into Entrepreneurs, wealth creators, and employers and lead to national development.
“While speaking with a group of APC Youth Leaders that visited the Ministry in June to commend the Minister for securing Federal Executive Council’s approval for the establishment of the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF). Mr Dare also asserted that the approval of NYIF by President Muhammadu Buhari is fait accompli to his staunch belief that the youths are the greatest asset who demands collective responsibility for supporting the youths. The NYIF joins the slew of youth-focused programmes already in place by the Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government, as part of a national plan to combat youth unemployment and drive innovation, fuel entrepreneurship as well as support youth SMEs’’.
The Minister has also set up a Focal Group on the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF). The Focal Group which is an assemblage of youth leaders and groups from diverse fields, entrepreneurial experts, and individuals with youth development and finance experience.
The NYIF Focal Group is entrusted with processing stakeholders’ views and inputs about the Fund and making the same available to the NYIF’s Technical Committee. The group will also provide valuable feedback on the expectations of the youth generally and deliberate on wide-ranging issues around youth entrepreneurship and credit access.
The Minister also tasked the Focal Group to “provide useful insights around the challenges faced by youth entrepreneurs and youth with burning ideas and how best they think the fund can assist them.
Mr. Dare also supervises the registering youth organizations in the country for proper identification and to give various groups the opportunity to benefit from the ministry’s lofty empowerment programmes.
The senior citizens of the country have also not been left out of the Minister’s good gesture by succor for them during lockdown of the country caused by pandemic Coronavirus. The Minister in his home state Oyo donated food material and cash to aging women and widows.
While Minister is ensuring development in all sector of sports, he has not schemed out some of the Nation’s past heroes in football as he extended his olive oil to some heroes in need and the mothers left behind those that have passed away.
