The holistic rejuvenation of schools and grassroots sports have again been identified as the missing piece of the jigsaw, if Nigeria is to sustain efforts toward growing all facets of sports development.
This postulation was canvassed at the 2-day workshop on promoting efficiency in the teaching of physical and health education in schools organized by the National Association of Physical and Health Education Recreation – Sports and Dance (NAPHER-SD).
Delivering a paper, the resource person, Dr. Suleiman Usman Omeiza, a lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, said deliberate policies were needed to automate the reversal in the dwindling fortunes currently affecting school and grassroots sports.
According to Omeiza, who is also the secretary general of the Nigeria Referees Association (NRA), sports administrators have got a lot to do in this respect.
“What we are saying is that Games Masters in our schools are just trained teachers. They’re neither trained coaches nor referees, so their basic duty is to spot talents early, brush them up and turn them over to trained coaches. The end goal is to have them discovered early, nurture them, and grow them to elite athletes, who will later represent their various local governments, states, clubs and the country in future.
“But in all of these, the administrators have got a lot to do in employing the PHE teachers, and providing them with the requisite equipment and facilities,” he said.
Recall that the sports minister, Senator John Enoh, on Tuesday, reiterated his belief that school sports has to be given the buy-in it deserves, if Nigeria is to take its rightful place as a leading sports nation, in Africa and the world at large.
He made the postulation while receiving the leadership of the National Association for Physical Health Education Recreation Sports and Dance (NAPHER-SD), who paid him a courtesy visit in his office, at the Main Bowl of the National Stadium, in Abuja.
Leader of the group, Professor Florence Bola Adeyanju, had at the visit congratulated Senator Enoh on his well-deserved appointment, and wished him a fruitful tenure.
Prof Adeyanju who is also the founder of the National Association of Women in Sports (NAWIS) intimated the minister of the programmes of the body, which includes a two-day seminar and training workshop for Physical & Health Education teachers, from across the country, beginning Abuja.