Olajide Fashikun, the Director-General of Nigeria Sports Development Fund Incorporated (NSDFI), on Tuesday said the organisation was committed to bringing one million Nigerian youths into sports before 2019 ended.
Fashikun gave the assurance at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 2 in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NSDFI is to undertake fund raising activities for AUSC Region 2 activities.
The AUSC Region 2 Secretariat is in Abuja, having been awarded to Nigeria in 2017, with Solomon Dalung, the Minister of Youths and Sports, as the President-in-Council of Region 2.
Fashikun thanked Dalung for his unflinching support for the NSDFI, adding that the greatest speed in repositioning the fund took place under his administration.
He disclosed that 90 athletes would be selected after the 2018 Commonwealth Games to be part of the NSDFI project.
“Every beneficiary shall have a comprehensive insurance coverage, an annuity plan of five years to guarantee their post-sports years and a living allowance of N75,000 per month.
“They will also have N250,000 for kitting, N5 million annually to attend international championships to help them peak for the games, N1 million for their coach/coaches, and N850,000 performance bonus if they meet agreed benchmarks,’’ Fashikun said.
“Of these 90 athletes, 10 per cent of them are expected to win a minimum of bronze medals, meaning that Nigerians should expect not less than 10 bronze medals at Tokyo 2020.’’
He said the funds would be raised majorly through community lottery and a campaign for 10 per cent of Nigerians to donate N200 once a year to NSDFI.
Fashikun announced that from April 10, the National Athletics Development Centres would begin to emerge, commencing from Ondo State, adding that every region would have its own centre.
Earlier, the General Manager of AUSC, Caleb Gidado, had said the signing of the MoU underscored the willingness of both organisations to work together for the good of West African sports.
“Suffice it to point out that the broad objective of the MoU is to undertake fund raising activities for the implementation of the AUSC Region 2 Games,’’ he said.
Gidado said the MoU was in line with the directive of the first session of the AUSC Region 2 Council of Ministers meeting.
NAN reports that the meeting had directed that the secretariat should source for additional funds for its programmes.
“We embarked on a search for partners which culminated in the Mutual Alliance between us and the Nigeria Sports Development Fund INC,’’ Gidado said.
Supervising the signing of the MoU, Dalung said the partnership would ensure that athletes from the sub-region perform better during the upcoming 2019 African Games and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
“It is heartwarming to witness today the kick-starting of the journey to raise the much-needed fund for the AUSC Region 2 programmes,’’ he said.