By Jude Opara, Abuja
The recent appointment of the former second vice president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mallam Shehu Dikko as the Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC) has been applauded by the President of the Nigeria Volleyball federation (NVBF), Engr. Musa Nimrod.
Nimrod who spoke to newsmen at the sidelines of his award as the most effective federation president by the Nigerian Sports National Merit Awards 2024 in Abuja said he hoped that Dikko who has a background as a sports administrator would do well, even as he warned him against focusing only on football to the detriment of other sports.
He noted that Nigeria could take a breather from some of the social crises like banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery if the youth are gainfully engaged with sports.
“The return of the National Sports Commission (NSC) is a welcome development. It is going to give us more opportunity, now coaches will be recognized; the usual bureaucracy that hinders sports development has been removed.
“It is very clear that when you build the youth, you build the nation and I strongly believe that such vices like banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery will drastically reduce when the youth are gainfully engaged.
“I am happy that Shehu Dikko who is a sports person has been appointed to head the NSC, but we want to warn him not to concentrate on football alone. Yes we know he is a football person, but today he is in charge of all sports, not just football and if he focuses only on football, we give him fire. Football has gotten to its peak in development. He should go and do the right thing and we will support him”.
Nimrod who is well known for his philanthropy insisted that sports must be supported by all and sundry because it is one of the few instruments that usually brings Nigerians together with the divisive recourse to tribe and religion.
