ABUJA – The Minister of Sports, Mr Tammy Danagogo, on Thursday in Abuja urged the Nigeria Institute of Sports (NISports) to produce quality coaches as a matter of priority. Danagogo, who gave the charge to a 10-member Council of the institute during their inauguration, said the development of sports in Nigeria depended largely on the quality of the coaches. According to him, the institute has the obligation to ensure that the best training is given to the coaches who will train the country’s athletes. “The task of refining the talents of these people (coaches) rests on the shoulders of National Institute of Sports. “We have just returned from Botswana and I beat my chest to tell every Nigerian that this country is filled with raw talents. “Even with little or no preparation, we went out there and garnered 41 medals out of which we had 19 gold and for the first time we came third. “These are young boys and girls of between ages 10 and 15. “The last time we went for this competition, we had only 10 medals in Morocco; in fact when I was addressing them I was hoping that we should be able to get 25 medals. “It tells us that the institute has so many raw materials to build so that we can have future Olympians, future heroes, future stars. “That is why your task is very crucial to this country, if we must make a mark in sports,’’ Danagogo said. The Minister said the council’s major responsibility would be to oversee the management of the institute to ensure that the best quality of training is made available to the coaches as well as athletes. He expressed optimism that the calibre of people on the council would help achieve President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda in sports in the shortest time possible. “Your mandate will be to formulate policies to achieve that and to coordinate efforts to generate funds, materials and so on, to achieve this purpose. “I don’t need to tell you that sports are a global phenomenon and so much is expected because everybody knows that it is one major unifying factor in this country. “So, if we are able to give the best training to our sports men and women, then, we will be able to raise the interest of our people and of course attract the glory that comes from sports,’’ he added. Responding, the Chairman of the Council retired Col. Idu Enonche, gave the assurance that the members would discharge their duties creditably. Enonche said they would work diligently with the management of NISports and remain loyal to the National Sports Commission. Members of the Council include Felix Obuah, Chairman of PDP in River and Saliu Korau, a Director with the National Commission for Colleges of Education. Others are Brain Odum, a Deputy Director in the National Universities Commission, Commodore A.A. Dacosta from Defence Headquarters and Representative of the Nigeria Police. The Director, NISports Sunny Ikhioya, a representative of both the National Sports Commission and National Board for Technical Education, Kaduna are also members. Gloria Obajimi, the Registrar of NISports will serve as the Council’s Secretary.(NAN)
