By SEGUN ODEGBAMI
The eve of this New Year has been a long and dark night.
As a new day births…along the endless passage of time, Nigerians must deliberately choose, for the sake of their sanity, to hope for a new direction for Nigerian sports… …rising northwards, building up fresh momentum and optimism to replace the gloom thrown over the whole world, like a blanket at bedtime, in the past 2 years.
So, today, we wake up to 2022 and feast, drinking lavishly from the fountain of hope.
I hope that the wind of common sense will start to blow over Nigerian sports.
I hope that the National Sports Commission, NSC, will be brought back….
I hope that the National Institute for Sports, NIS, will return to serve its proper role as the intellectual think-tank,… and athletes laboratory….
I hope that the States will pay new attention to their State Sports Councils…..with fresh purpose to inexhaustibly feed the production mill of the NSC and the NIS with young, talented athletes.
I hope that each Local Government Area will understand its role…..and focus on the provision of public parks, sports grounds, recreational centres,……
I hope that the Ministry of Sports will become wiser, and act wiser in managing its relationships with all stakeholders…
I hope that Nigeria’s national sports federations will…. support indigenous coaches to build their capacities.
I hope that a new Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, shall emerge in 2022 from the debris of previous experiences…….
I hope that the Super Eagles will do so well at the African Cup of Nations ….and halt the worn-out yarn that Nigerians are not good enough to manage their own national football teams.
I hope….
I hope….
I hope….
I hope……
Into 2022, I am feasting on these hopes!
For the full version of this New Year ‘homily’ get a copy of the New Year edition of any one of Complete Sports, Vanguard and The Guardian newspapers and read my column.
Or visit the www.mathematical7.com website after noon on New Year’s day and enjoy it.
I send best wishes for a terrific 2022 to all my family, friends, followers on social media and fans.
Segun Odegbami