No grassroots programmes, no global competitions, Dikko warns federations

Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, has put the various sports federations in the country on their toes, warning them that the NSC will not show interest in their international competitions if they fail to come up with grassroots development programmes in their respective sports, The PUNCH reports.

Dikko, while discussing the commission’s Renewed Hope Initiative for Nigeria’s Sports Economy during an X Space on Saturday said the move was necessary to sieve the federations plans and align them with their calendar.

He also announced that they have until the end of January to comply with the NSC’s directive.

“We have already given a marching order to all federations and we have told them that we are not going to support any federation to be travelling abroad for competitions until they show us the developmental works they are doing in the grassroots,” Dikko said while fielding question about his plans to make sports federations more functional.

“We will be supporting them in those domestic programmes and they have until January 31 to give us their programmes for the whole year and from there we can see how we can intervene and align it with our calendar properly.”

The NSC unveiled the RHINSE initiative last December to transform the nation’s sports industry.

According to Dikko, it is a plan to transform the nation’s sports industry through the Reset, Refocus, and Relaunch initiative, which seeks to reset Nigeria’s sports eco-system from a competition-driven to a developmental-driven and value-added industry.

“The RHINSE initiative is not just about investing in infrastructure but about redefining sports as a national asset but entitled to all the requisite special support, concessions and legal frameworks to drive growth. It is a tool for unity, cultural promotion, and economic growth, with the potential to uplift millions of our youth and communities across the country,” Dikko stated during the unveiling last December.

Dikko, a former chairman of the Nigeria Premier Football League was appointed by President Bola Tinubu as the chairman of the revived NSC, following the scrapping of the Ministry of Sports Development.