A Sports’ Administrator, Mr Segun Ikuesan, has said time has come for corporate organizations to wake up to the funding of sporting activities in the country, saying security agencies have flourishing football teams and academies in countries like Angola and Tunisia.
Ikuesan said this in Ado Ekiti on Thursday during a one-day Seminar on new techniques in Basketball and modern methods of coverage/reportage for sports’ Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Ekiti chapter.
Ikuesan, who is the Chairman of the Basketball Association in Ondo State, said sports have failed to yield the expected social and economic prowess in Nigeria due to poor contributions of private organizations in their funding.
“It will be wrong for Nigerians to expect government to solely fund sports. Do you know that Army and Police have football teams in Angola and Tunisia and they contribute one dollar every month to fund the teams.
“In Nigeria, everything rest on the government. Most of the athletes and footballers are not given incentives and nobody should expect development under this contexts,” he said.
Reeling out the nitty-gritty of the technicalities in basketball game, Ikuesan appealed to Nigerian journalists to specialize in the coverage of other sectors of sports, rather than concentrating their energies on foot-balling.
“Some of the richest sportsmen across the world are either boxers or basketballers. That great boxer, May Weather was a good example. He is the richest sportsman in the world and he is not a footballer.
“To think that you can only be rich when you have attachment with football is wrong,” he said.
The Commissioner for Information, Youths and Sports, Mr Lanre Ogunsuyi, described sports as a talent-oriented sector that can help in developing individuals, saying government won’t shirk in its responsibilities to promote the sector and make it attractive for those making their careers in that sector.
The State Chairman of SWAN , Mr Deji Ogunsakin, said the programme was part of the promise made before ascension that he would expose members to modern ways of doing things, most especially in the discharge of their duties.
“It is generally believed that the world is dynamic and there is need to move with such trend of dynamism. since this equally affect sports, there is need for us as sports reporters to be abreast of new things and the application when necessary while informing the public.
“Today’s seminar will not only help we sports journalists alone, but also the direct stakeholders, viz Basketball Players, coaches and administrators.
“I want to assure that by God’s grace,SWAN Ekiti state chapter will continue to engage in what could bring about sports development in the state,” he said.
Ogunsakin used the medium to solicit the assistance of the state ministry of information, youth and sports, the sports council, stakeholders and most especially the state government for this association in its various programmes.
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