By Andrew Abah,Abuja
The federal government is set to revive the Nigerian University Games Association to serve as the breeding ground for the nation’s future athletes.
The Chairman, National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko dropped the hint Tuesday when he received the Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA) President, Bawa Mohammed on courtesy call in his office at the Moshood Abiola International Stadium, Abuja.
Dikko emphasized that collaboration with key stakeholders like NUGA would give him the required leverage to rejuvenate primary and secondary school sports in line with his vision of laying a solid foundation for sports development from the grassroots.
He explained further that part of the plan for the revival of NUGA is to establish centers of excellence in six universities across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones, providing the necessary infrastructure and support for student-athletes.
This according to him, “would equip the selected universities with the basic requirements in terms of infrastructure and other equipment to breed and groom our future athletes.”
He said that in its new vision, “the Commission aims to treat sports as a national asset, and as such, it would lay more emphasis on athlete development, setting the right structure and framework to ensure solid sports economy, over and above immediate competition results.
The Chairman used the occasion to call on sports federations to strive to demonstrate appreciable level of developmental progress before participating in international tournaments.
On the issue of funding, Dikko proposed the creation of a National Sports Commission Marketing Board to assist federations in securing private sector support.
He then called on NUGA to come up with a detailed partnership proposal with the Commission, outlining its plans and objectives in alignment with the Commission’s vision.
Earlier in his presentation, the NUGA President, Bawa Mohammed, congratulated Dikko on his appointment to steer the affairs of the Commission and expressed NUGA’s desire to collaborate with the Commission.
He explained that the two organisations share common visions even as he believes that most of NUGA’s aspirations would find expression in the Commission’s set objectives.
He expressed the hope that the proposed collaboration would work towards producing talented athletes for the country, highlighting that 35% of medals at the recent Olympics were won by university students globally.
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