Hon Minister Mr Sundae Dare is a man who believes that Partnership is the way forward in governance– information is released in a timely manner. This is what has helped him got commitments from business leaders on the renovation of some stadia in the country. It is also what has made him achieve great results and admiration in the last one year. “Today, August 21, marks the first anniversary of my appointment as sports minister by President Muhammadu Buhari. All praises to God Almighty for His favour and faithfulness. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve our country. Thanks to Mr President.” Dare said.
Within this first year in office he has achieved so much that he was rated among the three top ministers in Nigeria by an organization. In an interim scorecard released by Transparency Watch, Dare came third behind Hon Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development-Hajia Saddiya Farouk and Transport Minister Rt.Hon Rotimi Amaechi.
Apart from his achievements in the last one year, Dare is still racing gracefully on to ensure he buoys the psychology of Nigerian youth, helping them to discover themselves and build self-worth.
Recently President Muhammadu Buhari approved November 1 every year to commemorate the National Youth Day. This is part of Sunday Dare’s effort to further widen opportunities and more space for the youth. He explained, in his twitter handle, that the national day would be celebrated to draw attention and find solutions to the issues that affect the youth.
Before this time, in July, a month before Dare’s one year in office, President Buhari approved the establishment of a N75 billion Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) for three years, following a memo presented by Dare,. Back then he said, “The NYIF is to serve as a sort of Youth Bank that will fund and support the innovative ideas, skills, talents, and enterprise of the Nigerian youth.”
As soon as he was inaugurated in August 2019, Sunday Dare rolled out the four-point agenda he would deploy to revive the ailing sports sector. These were grassroots development with states governors and educational institutions all anticipated to play key roles, provision of facilities, which include resuscitating the moribund ones and adding new ones, where needed, creating a clear business model for the sector as it is the case in developed climes, Athletes’ Sustenance Fund, which will ensure that Nigerian athletes are always well-funded for training and other activities in and out of competitions. The last one was the well-being of the Nigerian youth.
Achievements
Hon. Minister Sunday Dare receiving a report from the permanent secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Gabriel Aduda
Adopt A Talent Initiative
One of the biggest problems of sports in Nigeria is funding. Over the years, athletes got little or no financial support from the sports ministry. They had to fend for themselves, straining their lean purses to pay coaches who trained them for major tournaments. But, Dare has been lauded for introducing what he called “Adopt A Talent Initiative” on his assumption into office.
Helping our sporting heroes
The sports minister won more friends than enemies when he revisited the long-awaited demand to reach out to ailing sports legends and the vulnerable. He believes there is a need to reconnect with people that laboured to put the country’s name on the world map. In this regard, the likes of Sunday Eboigbe, Kadiri Ikhana, Christian Chukwu got financial support to treat their ailments.
Similarly, the minister has extended his assistance to the mothers of late Rashidi Yekini, Samuel Okwaraji and quarter-miler Sunday Bada while the families of late coaches Shuaibu Amodu, Stephen Keshi, and Mudashiru Lawal Manga Muhammed are now on his monthly welfare scheme package.This gesture has widely been commended and even pricked the conscience of the likes of the Nigerian Football Federation to follow suit.
Sports Industry Policy
Following his promise that he would take sports away from being just a pastime or mere recreational activity to becoming business as it is done in developed countries , the minister came out with a newly drafted Sports Industry Policy (SIP). And he is serious in this direction.
This Sports Industry Policy provides the much-needed framework that will transform sports in Nigeria from being recreational to business-led and unlock a ton of investments in the sector Minister of Sports Sunday Dare has declared.
Speaking after he had received the draft document of the National Sports Industry Policy Abuja,t he minister said the newly revamped SIP would replace the obsolete 2009 version and will address four key areas “3 Is and 1 P” – Infrastructure, Investment, Incentives and Policy, that would catapult sports in Nigeria to the next level.
The draft SIP is a revamp of the 2009 National Sports Policy carried out under the auspices of the Sports Ministry by members of the steering committee of the Sports Industry Working Group (SIWG), the policy validation committee, the National Sports Industry Policy drafting committee, relevant MDAs and Ministries.
Praising the efforts of all involved in the project, Dare described the new SIP as “a new dawn” for sports in the country and assured that the policy will stand the test of time when it is adopted by the Federal Executive Council.
“On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, I congratulate all members of the committee for this giant stride, your commitment, dedication and doggedness to bring this draft sports policy to reality,” Dare said in a statement.
“This policy no doubt is a new dawn that will drive the process of moving sports away from being recreational to business.
“I recall the opportunity I had during the 25th Nigerian Economic Summit, to chair its Sports Industry Business Roundtable Session. The session featured various speakers from all sectors emphasizing the challenges in developing sports as a viable business sector capable of attracting investments and delivering returns to investors.
“This gave birth to setting up various groups to review our 2009 sports policy which no doubt is now obsolete.
The Minister commended the permanent secretary, Mr Gabriel Aduda, the co-chairman of the steering committee Mr Ufot Udeme and other members of the committee for their invaluable contributions towards the drafting the new National Sports Industry policy.
Nigerian Youth Investment Fund.
The Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (N-YIF), which was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) late July, can easily pass as one of the biggest gains of Dare in the office so far N-YIF is dedicated to investing in the innovative ideas, skills, talents, and enterprises of youth. N-YIF has a target to reach 500,000 youth between 2020 and 2023.
To ensure efficient managemt of the fund, the ministry has set up a focal group to help manage the utilisation of the newly-approved fund.The focal group is an assemblage of youth leaders and groups from diverse fields, entrepreneurial experts and individuals with youth development and finance experience.The group is entrusted with processing concerned parties’ views and inputs about the Fund and making the same available to the NYIF’s Technical Committee.
Commitments for rehabilitation of the Lagos and Abuja National Stadia
Still in line with his promise of revamping moribund sporting facilities, the Minister has shown he has better ideas of getting things to work again than most of his predecessors.
The Minister sometime ago announced that he had secured commitments from business moguls Aliko Dangote and Kensington Adebutu (Baba Ijebu) for the renovation of the Abuja and Lagos National stadia respectively. The development is commendable as the government will no longer have to dip its hands into its own lean purse to spend on facilities it allowed to go bad in the first place.
Hon Minister Mr Sundae Dare is a man who beleieves that Partnership is the way forward in governance– information is released in a timely manner. This is what has helped him got commitments from business leaders on the renovation of some stadia in the country. It is also what has made him achieve great results and admiration in the last one year. “Today, August 21, marks the first anniversary of my appointment as spoerts minister by President Muhammadu Buhari. All praises to God Almighty for His favour and faithfulness. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve our country. Thanks to Mr President.” Dare said.
Within this first year in ofice he has achieved so much that he was rated among the three top ministers in Nigeria by an organization. In an interim scorecard released by Transparency Watch, Dare came third behind Hon Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development-Hajia Saddiya Farouk and Transport Minister Rt.Hon Rotimi Amaechi.
Apart from his achievements in the last one year, Dare is still racing gracefully on to ensure he buoy the psychology of Nigerian youth, helping them to discover themselves and build self-worth.
Recently President Muhammadu Buhari approved November 1 every year to commemorate the National Youth Day. This is part of Sunday Dare’s effort to further widen opportunities and more space for the youth. He explained, in his twitter handele, that the national day would be celebrated to draw attention and find solutions to the issues that affect the youth.
Before this time, in July, a month before Dare’s one year in office, President Buhari approved the establishment of a N75 billion Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) for three years , following a memo presented by Dare,. Back then he said, “The NYIF is to serve as a sort of Youth Bank that will fund and support the innovative ideas, skills, talents and enterprise of the Nigerian youth.”
As soon as he was inaugurated in August 2019, Sunday Dare rolled out the four-point agenda he would deploy to revive the ailing sports sector. These were grassroots development with states governors and educational institutions all anticipated to play key roles, provision of facilities, which include resuscitating the moribund ones and adding new ones, where needed, creating a clear business model for the sector as it is the case in developed climes, Athletes’ Sustenance Fund, which will ensure that Nigerian athletes are always well-funded for training and other activities in and out of competitions. The last one was the well-being of the Nigerian youth.
Achievements
Adopt A Talent Initiative
One of the biggest problems of sports in Nigeria is funding. Over the years, athletes got little or no financial support from the sports ministry. They had to fend for themselves, straining their lean purses to pay coaches who trained them for major tournaments. But, Dare has been lauded for introducing what he called “Adopt A Talent Initiative” on his assumption into office.
Helping our sporting heroes
The sports minister won more friends than enemies when he revisited the long-awaited demand to reach out to ailing sports legends and the vulnerable. He believes there is a need to reconnect with people that laboured to put the country’s name on the world map. In this regard, the likes of Sunday Eboigbe, Kadiri Ikhana, Christian Chukwu got financial support to treat their ailments.
Similarly, the minister has extended his assistance to the mothers of late Rashidi Yekini, Samuel Okwaraji and quarter-miler Sunday Bada while the families of late coaches Shuaibu Amodu, Stephen Keshi, and Mudashiru Lawal Manga Muhammed are now on his monthly welfare scheme package.This gesture has widely been commended and even pricked the conscience of the likes of the Nigerian Football Federation to follow suit.
Sports Industry Policy
Following his promise that he would take sports away from being just a pastime or mere recreational activity to becoming business as it is done in developed countries , the minister came out with a newly drafted Sports Industry Policy (SIP). And he is serious in this direction.
This Sports Industry Policy provides the much-needed framework that will transform sports in Nigeria from being recreational to business-led and unlock a ton of investments in the sector Minister of Sports Sunday Dare has declared.
Speaking after he had received the draft document of the National Sports Industry Policy Abuja,t he minister said the newly revamped SIP would replace the obsolete 2009 version and will address four key areas “3 Is and 1 P” – Infrastructure, Investment, Incentives and Policy, that would catapult sports in Nigeria to the next level.
The draft SIP is a revamp of the 2009 National Sports Policy carried out under the auspices of the Sports Ministry by members of the steering committee of the Sports Industry Working Group (SIWG), the policy validation committee, the National Sports Industry Policy drafting committee, relevant MDAs and Ministries.
Praising the efforts of all involved in the project, Dare described the new SIP as “a new dawn” for sports in the country and assured that the policy will stand the test of time when it is adopted by the Federal Executive Council.
“On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, I congratulate all members of the committee for this giant stride, your commitment, dedication and doggedness to bring this draft sports policy to reality,” Dare said in a statement.
“This policy no doubt is a new dawn that will drive the process of moving sports away from being recreational to business.
“I recall the opportunity I had during the 25th Nigerian Economic Summit, to chair its Sports Industry Business Roundtable Session. The session featured various speakers from all sectors emphasizing the challenges in developing sports as a viable business sector capable of attracting investments and delivering returns to investors.
“This gave birth to setting up various groups to review our 2009 sports policy which no doubt is now obsolete.
The Minister commended the permanent secretary, Mr Gabriel Aduda, the co-chairman of the steering committee Mr Ufot Udeme and other members of the committee for their invaluable contributions towards the drafting the new National Sports Industry policy.
Nigerian Youth Investment Fund.
The Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (N-YIF), which was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) late July, can easily pass as one of the biggest gains of Dare in the office so far N-YIF is dedicated to investing in the innovative ideas, skills, talents, and enterprises of youth. N-YIF has a target to reach 500,000 youth between 2020 and 2023.
To ensure efficient managemt of the fund, the ministry has set up a focal group to help manage the utilisation of the newly-approved fund.The focal group is an assemblage of youth leaders and groups from diverse fields, entrepreneurial experts and individuals with youth development and finance experience.The group is entrusted with processing concerned parties’ views and inputs about the Fund and making the same available to the NYIF’s Technical Committee.
Commitments for rehabilitation of the Lagos and Abuja National Stadia
Still in line with his promise of revamping moribund sporting facilities, the Minister has shown he has better ideas of getting things to work again than most of his predecessors.
The Minister sometime ago announced that he had secured commitments from business moguls Aliko Dangote and Kensington Adebutu (Baba Ijebu) for the renovation of the Abuja and Lagos National stadia respectively. The development is commendable as the government will no longer have to dip its hands into its own lean purse to spend on facilities it allowed to go bad in the first place.