FG ‘starves’ NIS of funding despite budgetary allocations — Shaibu

The Director General of the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Phillip Shaibu, has accused the Federal Government of persistently excluding the institute from national sports funding, despite what he described as record budgetary allocations to the sector in recent years. Shaibu made the allegation on Monday, January 5, while speaking on Sunrise Daily, where he said that although sports funding under President Bola Tinubus administration is the highest the sector has ever received, the NIS has continued to be left out. Sports funding has seen one of the highest allocations in this administration. The last budget was the highest the sports sector has ever had, but NIS was not captured in that funding, and it has been like that for decades, he said. He described the exclusion as deliberate, blaming former sports ministers and the existing budgeting framework for what he called the gradual decline of the institute. According to him, the National Assembly should summon past sports ministers to explain their roles in the situation. I called that all the former Ministers of Sports should be called to come and account for their role in destroying NIS. It was deliberate because the budgeting system encourages consumption and does not encourage infrastructural development or maintenance, Shaibu stated. The NIS Director General argued that Nigerias sports administration structure is fundamentally flawed, stressing that government involvement should focus on infrastructure rather than daily sports management. In simple economics, government has no business in business but has business in providing enabling environments. In sports, the government has no business in the daily running of sports, but they have business in developing and building the infrastructure. That infrastructure is what the private sector will leverage on, he said. Shaibu revealed that when he assumed office about five months ago, he met an institute that had existed for 51 years without a clear development plan. I met the NIS, who is 51 years old, five months ago, without a plan, so we had to create a roadmap. Funding is a major problem, so we had to get the private sector involved, he explained. He added that frustration over Nigerias inconsistent sports performance had discouraged private sector interest in the past. Everyone is tired of praying and fasting for our sports for us to win tournaments, so a lot of private sector players are interested in making NIS work, he said. Despite inheriting what he described as a lean budget, Shaibu said the institute has been able to kick-start key programmes through public private partnerships. I met a very lean budget, and that gave me more reason to think outside the box. With that lean budget, weve been able to kick-start our programmes, he noted. He further disclosed that the Abuja office of the institute, which had been inactive for decades, has been revived without direct budgetary allocation. We brought the Abuja office back to life with no resources. We had our first three month coaching programme after 30 years in Abuja, and we graduated those students on December 18. The office is back and well renovated without budget and can compete with any office in Nigeria in terms of standard, Shaibu said. He warned that Nigerias sports fortunes would remain unstable unless the NIS is adequately funded and fully functional. NIS is the critical sector that produces the players, the coaches, the referees. Its the training institute for the sports ecosystem. When that system is not functioning, dont expect anything better in Nigerian sports because the engine room for sports is not functioning, he added.The post FG starves NIS of funding despite budgetary allocations Shaibu appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.