ABUJA – The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on Thursday asked the National Sports Commission (NSC) to inaugurate a steering committee to develop a policy direction for sports in Nigeria.
BPE’s Director-General, Benjamin Dikki, who the bureau’s delegation on a courtesy call on the NSC Chairman, Tammy Danagogo, in Abuja said the policy direction was imperative now.
He said it would involve a recommendation on a legal and regulatory framework for Nigeria’s sports sector.
“We are here to call upon you to inaugurate the project advisory team which will conduct comprehensive and diligence studies of the sports sector.
“The team will undertake a comparative analysis of other countries’ sports development and policies and at the end of the day make a recommendation of a review or a policy direction for sports in Nigeria and also recommend a legal and regulatory framework.
“This is solely because you recently inaugurated the steering committee for the reform of the sports sector and also inaugurated the technical team for the concessioning of the National Stadium in Abuja and subsequently other stadia,’’ the BPE director-general said.
He said the steering committee was important so as to avoid future challenges for the concessioned stadia.
“This exercise is important because if you concession the stadium without clear policies on legal and regulatory framework, they will run into some challenges in the near future.
“So, we consider it imperative that after inaugurating the technical team for the concession, you also inaugurate the project advisory team that will conduct comprehensive studies of the sports sector in Nigeria. [eap_ad_1] “They will benchmark it with other countries and come up with a clear policy document and a legal and regulatory framework which will make our sports sector attractive to private sector investment,’’ Dikki said.
He said the exercise would also provide an enabling environment for the private sector to key into sports.
“There are countries where the stadia are built by the private sector and we believe, if we create the right environment, it can also take place in Nigeria.
“Once we have in place the project advisory team, made up of various agencies like the NSC, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, and other relevant stakeholding ministries and agencies, we will send technical people who will work with them,’’ the BPE director-general said.
In his response, Danagogo who is also the Sports Minister said a holistic reform of the sports sector was long overdue, and the NSC was going to endorse BPE’s move.
“The holistic sports sector reform that you seek now is long overdue because at the National Sports Summit in 2012, it was agreed that sporting facilities and events should be developed in a manner that will attract the private sector.
“So, what you are seeking now is in tandem with the vision of President Goodluck Jonathan for the development of sports for Nigeria to become the best in Africa and one of the best sporting nations in the world.
“So, with this proposed holistic reform, we will look at the processes, pre- and post-concessioning, because one of the problems with government policies is that of not thinking of their long-term implications,’’ Danagogo said.
He however called on every stakeholder to key into the reform, saying it was the duty of all.
“I assure you that the NSC will work hand in hand with the BPE to deliver a laudable vision which does not belong to the BPE alone, but to the NSC and the government.
“This is due to the fact that President Jonathan endorsed the recommendation of the sports sector reform at the 2012 National Sports Summit,’’ the minister said.
The BPE serves as the secretariat of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).
It is charged with the overall responsibility of implementing the council’s policies on privatisation and commercialisation.(NAN)
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