The Nigeria’s Pillar of Sports, Chief Donatus Agu-Ejidike JP, has congratulated Alhaji Shehu Dikko on his appointment as the Chairman of the newly created National Sports Commission (NSC).
He gave the congratulatory message on Wednesday evening during a media briefing, following the announcement of a cabinet reshuffle by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, In Abuja, after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The President, in a bid to rework the machinery of governance for better service delivery to the people of this great country, scrapped some ministries, among which was the Ministry of Sports Development. In its place, was the return of the National Sports Commission (NSC), which now takes over the constitutional and administrative mandates of the defunct ministry.
The Anambra-born seasoned Sports administrator and philanthropist describes the appointment of Dikko as “a round peg in a round hole”, considering his antecedents in the development of sports in Nigeria, in not-too-distant past. Ejidike asserted that, he has no doubt that the Kaduna-born former League Management Committee (LMC) Chairman will change the face of sports development in Nigeria, if what he did with Nigerian club football is anything to go by. He recalled with admiration the kind of partnership Dikko struck between the Nigerian LMC, and the Spanish La Liga, “which footprints still remain indelible on our sports development till today, in terms of discovery, development and management of football talents”.
The former President of the Karate Federation of Nigeria (KFN) said, the Dikko that he knows is a “team player” who does not like running “a one-man show”, which he (Ejidike) believes will enhance his (Dikko’s) success in office as the NSC Chairman.
It would be recalled that, this is not the first time Nigeria would be deploying the instrumentality of a Commission, as a strategy for the administration of sports in the country.
Ejidike who is also the patron of the Nigerian Football Supporters Club (NFSC) put, the country’s achievements in sports in the 90s, down to the efficient manner in which sports administration was run by the then NSC, saying he has no iota of doubt that Dikko will replicate and even surpass those achievements.
Nigeria qualified for the world Cup for the first time in 1993, won the FIFA Men’s Under-17 World Cup; the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Tunisia in 1994; the Afro-Asian Cup in 1995; won the gold medals in women long jump (Chioma Ajunwa) and men’s football event, among other medals, at the Atalanta 1996 Olympic games. “The Super Eagles of Nigeria would have successfully defended the AFCON in South Africa, in 1996, were it not for the diplomatic row that erupted between the Nigerian military government then, and the South African government which led to Nigeria boycotting the event,” Ejidike recalled.
The Pillar of Sports, while hailing the vision of President Tinubu for the move, also used the opportunity to wish the immediate past Minister of Sports, Senator John Owan Enoh, who’s been redeployed to the Ministry of Trade and Investment, all the best, saying history will not forget his achievements during the short period he held sway as the Minster of Sports Development.
The Nnewi-born business mogul concluded by wishing Dikko the very best on this new national assignment.