Nigerians in diaspora thank Tinubu for appointing Dikko chairman NSC, advocates for the principles of federal character
By Abdulgafar Oladimeji
A coalition of concerned sports stakeholders have urged the federal government of Nigeria to consider the principles of federal character in making further appointments into strategic sports public offices .
The stakeholders under the aegis of Concerned Sports Stakeholders in Diaspora , CSSD expressed worries over what it described as the present lopsided occupation of public sports offices.
The group thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his courageous and well appreciated recent moves to heal the ailing sports sector.
The august group in a statement issued last Saturday signed by the convener of the group , Chinasa G. Okoro(The Gambia) and Sunday Obase(Senegal) said “ the recent appointment of Shehu Dikko in our opinion is highly commendable , as former sports persons, now living in the diaspora, we support the appointment , we will work with him to make Nigerian sports great once again.
“ the appointment of Mallam Dikko to us is that, we now have a round peg , in a round hole, Dikko is a sports technocrat, that remains an undisputable fact in the sports sector, whatever some persons may have against him .”
“however, we also want to express our worries and sincere concerns over the one sided state of appointments in the area of the occupation of sports offices, the situation as afar as appointed and elected sports public officers are concerned, in our views is not in tandem with the spirit of the principles of federal character.”
The group pointed out that “ chairman senate committee on sports, Dr Kawu Sumaila, is from Kano, north west, chairman national sports commission , mallam Shehu Diko, is from Kaduna north west, president and general secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Ibrahim Gusau and Muhammad Sunusi are from Zamfara and Kebbi states respectively both are from the north west.
“north east, north central, south east, south west in the spirit of federal character should also be on the sports space administrative wise, they should be considered to occupy other relevant offices of national interest , though based on merit.”CSSD said.
The group further urged the new chairman, NSC, Shehu Dikko to drive on the spirit that hailed his appointment to proceed without fears to ensure that all anomalies that had for years constituted the clog in the wheel of sports progress in Nigerian sports is hacked to pave way for sports promotion and development , in the interest of national development.
The body said the appointment of Dikko has no doubt kindle the flame of the Tinubu’s administration cardinal campaign tripod of the Renewed Hope Agenda, which for the first time has landed on the sports landscape in Nigeria.
