The Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission, Deji Tinubu on Sunday urged Federal Government to support the states in hosting the National Sport Festival (NSF) to save incessant postponements and actualise the benefits.
Tinubu made the appeal in interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on the festival which had suffered several postponements because of the host state’s inability.
He said that with the prevalent economic downturn in the country, the states might not have the capacity to stage the biennial competition.
NAN reports that the national competition had suffered many postponements since Cross River secured the hosting right after the
18th edition in Lagos State, tagged “Eko 2012’’.
Cross River in postponing the event expected to have been held in April to the last quarter of this year, did not give a precise date.
In 2014, it was postponed to 2015 because the facilities were not ready and was again postponed due to the 2015 general elections.
In postponing the event from April, the Cross River government said it was because of preparations for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in Brazil.
But Tinubu, in his submission, advised that the Federal Government should intervene and help the states to shoulder some responsibilities of the Games.
“To be frank, the economic situation in the country has taken a toll on government activities, meaning the states now weigh their priorities.
“If you can’t host, you are not going to die or be ostracised. Then the next time we talk about hosting we should have a fall back plan who to do it if we have a setback.
“We have lost one sports festival now, and I’m not sure if the next one will hold. We are in difficult times where we have to scale our
priorities.
“Planning has been the problem in the country, we have yet to get it right with planning, what we should do, how we do it and ways to do it,’’ he said.
Tinubu said that most states in the country are experiencing lean purse now, hence they might not have the capacity to solely fund the
hosting of the festival.
“Looking at the current purse of many states now, I don’t think any state can boast of hosting the NSF alone if we are to be realistic.
“There should be collaboration between them and the Federal Government.
“There are many factors that we should look into; I will not like to send my athletes to a state where the welfare is poor.
“The last one held in Lagos has raised the bar. I honestly think it should be a two way thing, the Federal Government and the states.
“We can also create an environment for the private sectors to have an input too; we can learn from them and they can also learn from us,’’ he said.
Tinubu said that the private sector wants to help but the government should create an enabling environment for them to work. (NAN)
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