LAGOS – National Sports Commission (NSC) is committed to the smooth running of clubs and teams across all sports in synergy with the various Sports Federations.
Speaking, while hosting a delegation of the Association of Badminton Clubs in Nigeria (ABCIN), chairman of the Commission, Mallam Shehu Dikko pointed out that the clubs are integral to the grassroots development of sports.
He said: “What you have put on the table aligns with our plans. Our vision is to make the domestic club ecosystem to work. Not just in badminton, but across all sports.
“Without the clubs, without the people who are on the ground oiling the participants in sport, the system cannot work. For instance, you can’t have a league without the clubs likewise you can’t have clubs without players.
“You can’t have the sports infrastructure without the owner. Similarly, you can’t be an owner without the sport. So no one can do without another, it’s a circle.
There has to be a synergy of all parties for things to work.” It was a courtesy call by the Badminton clubs owners, but Dikko seized the opportunity to call for proper synergy between the Sports Federations and the clubs.
“We will create the enabling environment for the Federations and the leagues that should carry the clubs to prosper. I believe we have a synergy now, but we have to try to make it much better and more professional for the best interest of the sport,” he said.
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He continued, “Without you and what you are doing with the players, there is virtually nothing that the Federation can do. The Federation cannot just go on the streets to pick players to come and play badminton.
They must see them playing somewhere, at the club, in a competition and what have you.
“You can play at your private level but for you to get to the next level professionally, you need the Federation. So we have to work as a family to make this work, both the NSC and the Federations.”
In his opinion, the clubs, players, Federation, no one should be left behind in the decision- making process.
“We have seen you and what you are doing. In the New Year, we will bring the Badminton Federation to the table to see what we can do to make the bond much stronger. We need this very strong bond for this aggressive grassroots sports development we are rooting for to succeed and in the overall interest of the sport.
“People funding the clubs must have a say. They must be on the table when decisions are made. It is a global practice. Even the players must have a say too, because without the players there will be no clubs.
Be rest assured that badminton will be top of what we are doing here as we believe in what the Federation is doing. We will make everything work out without compromising anybody’s interest in the whole process”, he concluded.
