President-Elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu will bring his magic wand to cause remarkable developments in Nigeria football, according to FCT FA chairman Adam Mouktar Mohammed.
In an extensive interview with The Nation, the FCT FA boss advocated for the Government to provide the conditions for the private sector to transform Nigeria football into big business.
“Government must continue to provide the enabling environment for football and other sports to thrive,” Mouktar Mohammed said.
“But for sports to create jobs and deliver dividends for investors, it must be driven by the private sector, just as it did with Nigerian music and Nollywood.
“I am confident the new government will encourage the private sector participation to make Nigerian football as well as other sports, big business.”
He continued: “Both the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Government under the direction of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, must find other ways such investments deliver better results going forward.
“We can do a lot better, to be honest with you. Nigeria is one of the biggest footballing countries in the world going by the talent that abounds and the huge following the sport enjoys.”
The provision of standard facilities is one of the ways sports development in the country could be given a huge fillip.
“I would want the in-coming government to focus more on provision of sporting facilities across the country in order to take restive youths away from the streets,” Mouktar Mohammed said.
“I don’t have to be a Minister to tell you that we need to provide more standard infrastructure and facilities for our number one sport (football) as well as renovate the existing ones.
“It will be massive to put up a national training centre in Abuja that will take in all the national teams rather than continue to pay out billions of Naira to hotels every year to house the training camps of the country’s teams.
“As a country, we lack a maintenance culture and this is what the Minister (Sunday Dare) met when he assumed office.
“He did well with the limited resources and time at his disposal and he was also creative by involving the private sector to renovate some of the country’s major sporting edifices like the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja as well as the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.
“By now we ought not to be just occupied with renovating the sporting infrastructure, but also providing more facilities for our teeming youths.”
He added, “It was most satisfying to get the Bwari Stadium refurbished with an up-to-date Astroturf and other standard facilities.
“This will help the development and promotion of football outside the Abuja Municipality as the Bwari Area Council and beyond will be a lot better for this.
“We need to sustain this model to reach the people.”
