Opinion
Uzodimma’s disdain for youths and sports in Imo
By Asiegbu Ogbonna Asiegbu
The Youths and Sports Development Ministry is a sector at all levels of government.
This underlines the very importance of youths and sports to societal advancement or development. Needless suggesting that both are key and or fundamental to the progress of any nation.
Ordinarily, Nigeria should be playing a vital role in global technological and economical breakthroughs considering the huge percentage of her youths and the abundant talents she has in the area of production of sportsmen and women.
Recent verifiable statistics have shown that about 64% of Nigeria’s population are youths. Suffice this to mean that if the country invests more in youths and sports development, she could be competing with China, United States and Britain among others.
Sadly Nigeria isn’t looking at this direction and it is having a telling effect and alarming toll on the nation. Youths restiveness, cultism, kidnappings, cybercrime, ritual killings and banditry are almost crippling and crumbling the nation. No thanks to nonchalant attitude of government towards youths and sports development.
Arguably, Imo State appears the worst hit by this nonchalant attitude towards youths and sports development particularly in the last three years of the administration of Senator Hope Uzodinma, as governor.
Imo State has been a theater of war or war zone if you care. Hundreds of youths across the 27 Local Government Areas have been killed and more are being killed by different terror groups under different identities or umbrella.
Imo youths are now abandoning the state and fleeing for safety into other states and regions of the country.
Painfully, sports is literally dead or non-existent in the state. Before Uzodinma’s emergence on January 14, 2020, Imo State was on the path of glory through sports and youth development.
Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha the predecessor of Uzodinma made sports one of the pillars of his administration by engaging the youths and getting them off the streets and crimes. He was developing infrastructures like rehabilitation of Dan Anyiam Stadium, building a brand new indoor sports hall, state of the art gymnasium and upgrading the Grasshoppers Handball International Stadium among others.
Ihedioha ensured that Heartland FC competed with other NPFL clubs. In fact, his singular effort saved the club from going on relegation before he assumed office. He used his personal funds to despatch respected sports personalities like Chief Fan Ndubuoke to go for the last match of Heartland FC in Okigwe which would have confirmed the club’s relegation.
The motivation of the players before the game and pep talk during half time by Ndubuoke and co who relayed Ihedioha’s promises and pledges of better days ahead to the team were the saving grace….and the team survived and bounced back to reckoning.
Most regrettably, Heartland FC has gone on relegation under the present administration despite the claim by the later that a whopping one billion (N1bn) was spent on the team within the same year.
It hurts so deeply too to see the structure which was supposed to house Imo State Sports Council and or the Sports Ministry built right inside the Dan Anyiam Stadium complex by the Rochas Okorocha administration being converted to the campaign office of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate in the 2023 election.
The question Imolites now ask, is where is the place of sports in the heart of Uzodinma’s administration?
Bitterly as well, the governor recently appointed a Chairman for State Sports Commission without constituting a board for the commission through the legal process of the State House of Assembly enacting a law in this regard.
Again, Imolites ask, is the state governed by law or by military edicts? Is the state governed by a civilian governor or by a dictator?
It is even ridiculous to observe that in the reckless display of ignorance, the government of Uzodinma went ahead to create a portfolio for Commissioner for Sports in his recent cabinet reshuffle.
Imolites once again ask, isn’t the governor and his advisors creating confusion by duplicating functions of Sports Commissioner with or and that of Executive Chairman Sports Commission? Or doesn’t the governor and his advisors realize or understanding that there will be conflicting interests and functions?
At this point, it is necessary to educate Uzodinma and his team that Ihedioha used the instruments of power of the House of Assembly to create the Sports Commission and appointed a board members from each of the three senatorial zones of the state with an executive chairman to oversee the commission.
Uzodinma must understand that the essence of creating the Sports Commission was to remove the bureaucratic bottlenecks in government hindering development in the sports sector.
Naturally, the creation of the Sports Commission meant that the Sports Ministry and former Sports Council were collapsed into the Sports Commission. This means that Uzodinma and his advisors are bereft of ideas and current happenings in governance especially in the area of sports.
Imolites must wake up to speak with one voice by calling on Uzodinma for real governance particularly in the sports sector and His Excellency should save the exodus of Imo youths who are going on exile imposed on them by this administration.
Asiegbu Ogbonna Asiegbu is a public affairs analyst who writes from Texas, USA.
