Dalung woos sports’ stakeholders

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung has enjoined all stakeholders in the sports industry to come together to take the industry to the desired height.

Speaking after the Godwin Kienka chaired National Sports Reform Committee on Sports submitted its  report last week, Dalung reasoned that for the report to be fully implemented, everybody must contribute positively  to actualize the dream.

“Part of reasons why we had to declare a state of emergency in sports is to take steps to regain public confidence which we have lost and this will take us to looking into what we have done in the past and where we didn’t do it well.

“We will also ensure that this report is made public and every stage of implementation is advertised and brought to the knowledge of Nigerians. This will help rekindle public confidence and assure investors that we will no longer do things the way we used to,” he said..

On accusations of mismanagement of funds given to the Ministry, Barrister Dalung said: “These are issues that have to do with law and investigation because you must have facts to make allegations of mismanagement. So, during the period of state of emergency, and when mechanism and steps will be taken, I will be glad if people with evidence of misappropriation of funds will step forward with proof as this will help us build public confidence. We will need the co-operation of States and Local Government Areas in our quest to making changes at the grassroots level. Federations, athletes and journalists are also important components in this chain of change and reforms.”

Despite hinting that not all aspects of the report will be implemented within the tenure of the present administration, Dalung promised that the ministry will do its best to set the ball rolling.

According to him, sports is capable of becoming a billion dollar industry in Nigeria and needs a new direction at a time when the nation is trying to diversify its streams of income to revamp the economy.

He enjoined all stakeholders to be constructive in their criticism rather than employing the pull down tactics or approach in expressing their minds.