By Daily Sports Nigeria on June 11, 2022

Nigerians are tired and frustrated with the unending crisis in some national Sports Federations. The particular case of the Nigeria Basketball Federation has compounded the situation as the Ministry of Youth and Sports, frustrated by the endless crisis, took a desperate decision that appears to have added salt to the injury. are tired and frustrated with the unending crisis in some national Sports Federations. The particular case of the Nigeria Basketball Federation has compounded the situation as the Ministry of Youth and Sports, frustrated by the endless crisis, took a desperate decision that appears to have added salt to the injury.

The crises in some national sports federations are not new. They were inherited by the current Sports Minister, Chief Sunday Dare, and have existed for at least 4 generations of ministers before him. He is only now being called upon to nurse back to health what have become very sick ‘babies’.

It is not an easy task to accomplish because the virus of abnormalities introduced at a time in past have become into cancers, and the new normal. The simple processes in sports associations (federations) at the birth of modern sports administration in Nigeria, have been smudged and obscured by inadequate advice of the dwindling pool of experienced and knowledgeable administrators on what needs to be done to connect the roots of the past with the state of affairs of the present, and serve as a compass into the future.

Without being disrespectful to those presently advising the sports ministry, there is a clear disconnect with history in some of the Ministry’s decisions. Without going back to the genesis of the crisis, a step that requires courage and wise counsel, there may never be a way out of these seemingly impossible situations. There are too many previous pitfalls and potholes along the way that the ministry is falling into that could have been avoided but are not

If the sports ministry did not think it had run out of patience and simple solutions, it would never have taken the huge and unprecedented step of withdrawing Nigeria’s national teams from all international basketball event, something that brings unquantifiable honour and glory to the country, provides a whole world of opportunities to the gifted youths of Nigeria.

Nigeria’s absence creates a big hole in the global basketball industry, and does irreparable losses in the lives and careers of innocent athletes who would never get a second chance at the present lost opportunities… again.

The problem in this whole brouhaha is a ‘virus’, a few articles in the federations’ constitutions, smuggled into them at a point in Nigeria’s sports history, to serve some narrow interests. They served those purposes well, were not expunged, became the new ‘normal’, became further engrained and are now almost impossible to get rid of because those that planted it are no longer around to recant their ignoble acts, and those benefiting from the act now will never easily give up their new found power, source of influence and glamourous living.

The era of electing only authentic members of sports organisations as leaders of the national federations may be gone forever, unless some drastic steps are taken. Hence, the ‘hard’ stance of the Sports Minister that has now backfired only because the ‘sinner’ is free and the victims, without whom even the federations would not exist , are suffering!

Since the announcement that shocked the entire world, rather than calm the situation, criticisms, concerns and condemnation have followed, and have been very loud, sustained and global. The decision is not producing the desired and anticipated results.

There are now genuine calls for the ministry to take another look at the whole matter, review its withdrawal from international competitions, and find another route to solving its greatest problem.

The good thing is that, In the Ministry’s action, we now clearly again the frostiness in relations between it and some of the national federation leaderships.

Source The Guardian Nigeria

Posted June 11, 2022

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