Sports
Group Targets N10bn In Four Years For Talents Dev
Chief Executive Officer of
a private initiative, Nigeria Olympic Fund, Olajide Fashikun has said that the organisation will raise N10 billion in four years to develop young talents.
Fashikun disclosed this recently in Abuja, during a courtesy visit to the Managing-Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Bayo Onanuga.
Fashikun, an ex-international, said that the project initiated seven years ago by 11outstanding individuals from the sports world was aimed at raising the standard of sports in the country.
He said that 16 million Nigerians were expected to identify with the initiative by committing a token of N100 through lottery.
“We are trying to bring 16 million Nigerians to identify with this project and each of them upon signing off will have to choose one of 10 Olympic icons.
“These 16 million Nigerians are expected to commit N100 to that Olympic Icon and we are also going to use the lottery as a process of raising funds.
“At the end of the day, our target is, we can raise about N10 billion between now and the next four years, which we shall deploy in raising new, young athletes.”
Fashikun said that the group would deploy N35 million of the funds to prepare 90 athletes from five different sports for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“As for Tokyo 2020 Olympics, we are going to take 90 athletes from five different sports.
“Each of these athletes, we are going to invest N35 million on them to prepare between now and Tokyo.
“We are already late in terms of preparations for Tokyo because you need six years, so we are already two years late.”
“But despite that, we are going to go ahead and work in a planned manner for the remaining four years that we have.
“Such that we want to get to Tokyo and bring back to this country no matter the colour of medals, but we want to surpass the total number of medals Nigeria has ever had in Olympics.’’
He said that the initiative was a creation of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and the Nigeria Sports Development Fund Incorporated (NSDFI).
He said that interested Nigerians who wish to participate in the initiative could visit the group’s website onwww.nigeriaolympicfund.com
In his response, Onanuga, appreciated the efforts of the group in sports development.
“Government generally should be disengaged from funding sports.
“It should be a private affair also getting support from other Nigerians, we will succeed in sports.
“We need to also create the right atmosphere for talents to develop themselves,’’ he said.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.