Why cant Nigeria have a National lottery to fund sports

[soothsayer]

I was wondering, in Britain the National Lottery provides funding for some of the
most talented athletes in preparation for their competing in major events. Do Nigeria
have anything similar, if not why can't we form one.
Secondly, what is the state of supporters clubs in our sports outside of football,
what has caused its demise and why can't we use
social networking to raise funds for athletes who show potential talent?
Are these foolhardy ideas or is there any potential in them. I think we do not provide enough promotion
and support for our athletes until the eve of the event afterward we forget about them,
when we should actually be supporting them during their training when they need it most.

[wanaj0]

I was wondering, in Britain the National Lottery provides funding for some of the
most talented athletes in preparation for their competing in major events. Do Nigeria
have anything similar, if not why can't we form one.
Secondly, what is the state of supporters clubs in our sports outside of football,
what has caused its demise and why can't we use
social networking to raise funds for athletes who show potential talent?
Are these foolhardy ideas or is there any potential in them. I think we do not provide enough promotion
and support for our athletes until the eve of the event afterward we forget about them,
when we should actually be supporting them during their training when they need it most.

Because lottery, gambling etc is not an acceptable practice in Nigeria. The National Sports Lottery died a natural death.

[JuJuMan]

I was wondering, in Britain the National Lottery provides funding for some of the
most talented athletes in preparation for their competing in major events. Do Nigeria
have anything similar, if not why can't we form one.
Secondly, what is the state of supporters clubs in our sports outside of football,
what has caused its demise and why can't we use
social networking to raise funds for athletes who show potential talent?
Are these foolhardy ideas or is there any potential in them. I think we do not provide enough promotion
and support for our athletes until the eve of the event afterward we forget about them,
when we should actually be supporting them during their training when they need it most.

Because lottery, gambling etc is not an acceptable practice in Nigeria. The National Sports Lottery died a natural death.

That is the conundrum that is Nigeria, stealing public money, corruption etc is the order of the day, but a lottery to fund good works, no o this is against our morals

[soothsayer]

I was wondering, in Britain the National Lottery provides funding for some of the
most talented athletes in preparation for their competing in major events. Do Nigeria
have anything similar, if not why can't we form one.
Secondly, what is the state of supporters clubs in our sports outside of football,
what has caused its demise and why can't we use
social networking to raise funds for athletes who show potential talent?
Are these foolhardy ideas or is there any potential in them. I think we do not provide enough promotion
and support for our athletes until the eve of the event afterward we forget about them,
when we should actually be supporting them during their training when they need it most.

Because lottery, gambling etc is not an acceptable practice in Nigeria. The National Sports Lottery died a natural death.

That is the conundrum that is Nigeria, stealing public money, corruption etc is the order of the day, but a lottery to fund good works, no o this is against our morals

It doesn't have to be lottery, I'm trying to brainstorm here, the lottery was there before they started to fund olympics, can we not use something people love to do as fun and use the money acquired to fund sports. even if its 5.00 naira, from a million people every month should generate enough to support one or two athletes in special need of support. If you think its not possible just look at what church donations do for our mega churches in Nigeria. Why not sports?

[Mr. Piffington]

I was wondering, in Britain the National Lottery provides funding for some of the
most talented athletes in preparation for their competing in major events. Do Nigeria
have anything similar, if not why can't we form one.
Secondly, what is the state of supporters clubs in our sports outside of football,
what has caused its demise and why can't we use
social networking to raise funds for athletes who show potential talent?
Are these foolhardy ideas or is there any potential in them. I think we do not provide enough promotion
and support for our athletes until the eve of the event afterward we forget about them,
when we should actually be supporting them during their training when they need it most.

Because lottery, gambling etc is not an acceptable practice in Nigeria. The National Sports Lottery died a natural death.

That is the conundrum that is Nigeria, stealing public money, corruption etc is the order of the day, but a lottery to fund good works, no o this is against our morals

It doesn't have to be lottery, I'm trying to brainstorm here, the lottery was there before they started to fund olympics, can we not use something people love to do as fun and use the money acquired to fund sports. even if its 5.00 naira, from a million people every month should generate enough to support one or two athletes in special need of support. If you think its not possible just look at what church donations do for our mega churches in Nigeria. Why not sports?

How about raising money to fund an elite athlete institute or something like an Olympic development program for youths in targeted sports? We should drop this British idea that doesn't make sports a priority in school and do like the Americans where their sports programs produce future pros, we could be producing excellent basketball players and track and field athletes if we get it right.

[soothsayer]

I was wondering, in Britain the National Lottery provides funding for some of the
most talented athletes in preparation for their competing in major events. Do Nigeria
have anything similar, if not why can't we form one.
Secondly, what is the state of supporters clubs in our sports outside of football,
what has caused its demise and why can't we use
social networking to raise funds for athletes who show potential talent?
Are these foolhardy ideas or is there any potential in them. I think we do not provide enough promotion
and support for our athletes until the eve of the event afterward we forget about them,
when we should actually be supporting them during their training when they need it most.

Because lottery, gambling etc is not an acceptable practice in Nigeria. The National Sports Lottery died a natural death.

the irony of it that every time I pass a betting shop in south London, I hear people speaking pidgin English outside the entrance.
Nigerians are big gamblers, I don't see an issue as long as the individual is not addicted. Its no more bad than fornication, adultery , sloth , greed, backbiting, if we want to go religious and moral about the issue.

[soothsayer]

I was wondering, in Britain the National Lottery provides funding for some of the
most talented athletes in preparation for their competing in major events. Do Nigeria
have anything similar, if not why can't we form one.
Secondly, what is the state of supporters clubs in our sports outside of football,
what has caused its demise and why can't we use
social networking to raise funds for athletes who show potential talent?
Are these foolhardy ideas or is there any potential in them. I think we do not provide enough promotion
and support for our athletes until the eve of the event afterward we forget about them,
when we should actually be supporting them during their training when they need it most.

Because lottery, gambling etc is not an acceptable practice in Nigeria. The National Sports Lottery died a natural death.

That is the conundrum that is Nigeria, stealing public money, corruption etc is the order of the day, but a lottery to fund good works, no o this is against our morals

It doesn't have to be lottery, I'm trying to brainstorm here, the lottery was there before they started to fund olympics, can we not use something people love to do as fun and use the money acquired to fund sports. even if its 5.00 naira, from a million people every month should generate enough to support one or two athletes in special need of support. If you think its not possible just look at what church donations do for our mega churches in Nigeria. Why not sports?

How about raising money to fund an elite athlete institute or something like an Olympic development program for youths in targeted sports? We should drop this British idea that doesn't make sports a priority in school and do like the Americans where their sports programs produce future pros, we could be producing excellent basketball players and track and field athletes if we get it right.

Your idea relies on government, it might work in private schools but then it becomes elitist doesn't it. And even in Britain we have elitist sports. Secondly it relies on organised bodies , the funding is not meant to find athletes, its meant to support the athletes found who do not have the funding and support needed to turn them from national champions to world champions. Nigeria produces talent fine, what we fail to do is nurture them properly... they get caught up in struggles of life and end up leaving their dreams.

[Mr. Piffington]

I was wondering, in Britain the National Lottery provides funding for some of the
most talented athletes in preparation for their competing in major events. Do Nigeria
have anything similar, if not why can't we form one.
Secondly, what is the state of supporters clubs in our sports outside of football,
what has caused its demise and why can't we use
social networking to raise funds for athletes who show potential talent?
Are these foolhardy ideas or is there any potential in them. I think we do not provide enough promotion
and support for our athletes until the eve of the event afterward we forget about them,
when we should actually be supporting them during their training when they need it most.

Because lottery, gambling etc is not an acceptable practice in Nigeria. The National Sports Lottery died a natural death.

That is the conundrum that is Nigeria, stealing public money, corruption etc is the order of the day, but a lottery to fund good works, no o this is against our morals

It doesn't have to be lottery, I'm trying to brainstorm here, the lottery was there before they started to fund olympics, can we not use something people love to do as fun and use the money acquired to fund sports. even if its 5.00 naira, from a million people every month should generate enough to support one or two athletes in special need of support. If you think its not possible just look at what church donations do for our mega churches in Nigeria. Why not sports?

How about raising money to fund an elite athlete institute or something like an Olympic development program for youths in targeted sports? We should drop this British idea that doesn't make sports a priority in school and do like the Americans where their sports programs produce future pros, we could be producing excellent basketball players and track and field athletes if we get it right.

Your idea relies on government, it might work in private schools but then it becomes elitist doesn't it. And even in Britain we have elitist sports. Secondly it relies on organised bodies , the funding is not meant to find athletes, its meant to support the athletes found who do not have the funding and support needed to turn them from national champions to world champions. Nigeria produces talent fine, what we fail to do is nurture them properly... they get caught up in struggles of life and end up leaving their dreams.

Explain to me how your lottery system works in nurturing talent? Boss, if Nigeria doesn't have good governance then we can't hope to do anything on a national level.

My idea for the sports institute will be meant more for kids from less privileged backgrounds. It will work as an academy where they go to regular school but spend time working on their talents. When I say "elite" I don't mean elitist.

[akamoke]

I was wondering, in Britain the National Lottery provides funding for some of the
most talented athletes in preparation for their competing in major events. Do Nigeria
have anything similar, if not why can't we form one.
Secondly, what is the state of supporters clubs in our sports outside of football,
what has caused its demise and why can't we use
social networking to raise funds for athletes who show potential talent?
Are these foolhardy ideas or is there any potential in them. I think we do not provide enough promotion
and support for our athletes until the eve of the event afterward we forget about them,
when we should actually be supporting them during their training when they need it most.

Because lottery, gambling etc is not an acceptable practice in Nigeria. The National Sports Lottery died a natural death.

That is the conundrum that is Nigeria, stealing public money, corruption etc is the order of the day, but a lottery to fund good works, no o this is against our morals

Makes no sense does it

Reminds me of the debate about homosexuality, all of a sudden, we develop Nigerian morals

Back to topic, I fully support this idea..a chance to create new wealth and fund new ventures. you don't have to invest too much and the winnings don't have to be too large, on the other hand we need folks with tight fists and have the country's interest at heart to run the affairs

We need to go back to that period where Sports are compulsory in schools

[Guv007]

I was wondering, in Britain the National Lottery provides funding for some of the
most talented athletes in preparation for their competing in major events. Do Nigeria
have anything similar, if not why can't we form one.
Secondly, what is the state of supporters clubs in our sports outside of football,
what has caused its demise and why can't we use
social networking to raise funds for athletes who show potential talent?
Are these foolhardy ideas or is there any potential in them. I think we do not provide enough promotion
and support for our athletes until the eve of the event afterward we forget about them,
when we should actually be supporting them during their training when they need it most.

Because lottery, gambling etc is not an acceptable practice in Nigeria. The National Sports Lottery died a natural death.

That is the conundrum that is Nigeria, stealing public money, corruption etc is the order of the day, but a lottery to fund good works, no o this is against our morals

Makes no sense does it

Reminds me of the debate about homosexuality, all of a sudden, we develop Nigerian morals

Back to topic, I fully support this idea..a chance to create new wealth and fund new ventures. you don't have to invest too much and the winnings don't have to be too large, on the other hand we need folks with tight fists and have the country's interest at heart to run the affairs

Goodluck with that, it involves a lot of money in revenue would it be run and distributed fairly would be another issue.

[akamoke]

We will never know if we don't try..it seems hopeless but even Nigeria can get it right if we all try

[soothsayer]

I was wondering, in Britain the National Lottery provides funding for some of the
most talented athletes in preparation for their competing in major events. Do Nigeria
have anything similar, if not why can't we form one.
Secondly, what is the state of supporters clubs in our sports outside of football,
what has caused its demise and why can't we use
social networking to raise funds for athletes who show potential talent?
Are these foolhardy ideas or is there any potential in them. I think we do not provide enough promotion
and support for our athletes until the eve of the event afterward we forget about them,
when we should actually be supporting them during their training when they need it most.

Because lottery, gambling etc is not an acceptable practice in Nigeria. The National Sports Lottery died a natural death.

That is the conundrum that is Nigeria, stealing public money, corruption etc is the order of the day, but a lottery to fund good works, no o this is against our morals

It doesn't have to be lottery, I'm trying to brainstorm here, the lottery was there before they started to fund olympics, can we not use something people love to do as fun and use the money acquired to fund sports. even if its 5.00 naira, from a million people every month should generate enough to support one or two athletes in special need of support. If you think its not possible just look at what church donations do for our mega churches in Nigeria. Why not sports?

How about raising money to fund an elite athlete institute or something like an Olympic development program for youths in targeted sports? We should drop this British idea that doesn't make sports a priority in school and do like the Americans where their sports programs produce future pros, we could be producing excellent basketball players and track and field athletes if we get it right.

Your idea relies on government, it might work in private schools but then it becomes elitist doesn't it. And even in Britain we have elitist sports. Secondly it relies on organised bodies , the funding is not meant to find athletes, its meant to support the athletes found who do not have the funding and support needed to turn them from national champions to world champions. Nigeria produces talent fine, what we fail to do is nurture them properly... they get caught up in struggles of life and end up leaving their dreams.

Explain to me how your lottery system works in nurturing talent? Boss, if Nigeria doesn't have good governance then we can't hope to do anything on a national level.

My idea for the sports institute will be meant more for kids from less privileged backgrounds. It will work as an academy where they go to regular school but spend time working on their talents. When I say "elite" I don't mean elitist.

Britain punches above its weight with medals total. It works quite well if we consider the medals haul Britain has so far in comparison to united states. Your idea depends on support? Your idea has merit in building sports science and coaching. It will take years to implement and it depends heavily on the philanthropists and coaches with expertise which is obviously lacking at present in the country. The system in place in Nigeria is similar to the Jamaica system, the problem is after they are discovered, and when they turn professional. That is what the lottery fund addresses, that is what my idea wants to tackle. It is simple, very workable solution, and is not complicated like what you suggest, plus no one feels they have wasted their money if the athlete fails.

[soothsayer]

http://www.nationallotterylondon2012.co.uk/

here is what national lottery does...

[mcal]

...if they can steal oil money with impunity how much more lottery money.

[Oba]

soothsayer, I agree completely that we need to find the means to fund sports. I would add to this that we can't stop at just thinking of how the money is raised. We need to also ask questions such as, 'if we suddenly provided a windfall sum of $10 billion for Nigerian sports', what will happen to that money? It is important to ask this question now because not having an answer will create doubts in the minds of some people that may want to provide funds for sports.

[Mr. Piffington]

Britain punches above its weight with medals total. It works quite well if we consider the medals haul Britain has so far in comparison to united states. Your idea depends on support? Your idea has merit in building sports science and coaching. It will take years to implement and it depends heavily on the philanthropists and coaches with expertise which is obviously lacking at present in the country. The system in place in Nigeria is similar to the Jamaica system, the problem is after they are discovered, and when they turn professional. That is what the lottery fund addresses, that is what my idea wants to tackle. It is simple, very workable solution, and is not complicated like what you suggest, plus no one feels they have wasted their money if the athlete fails.

The lottery system sounds good but we really need credible people to manage it. Does Nigeria have a collegiate system like the states?

[soothsayer]

Britain punches above its weight with medals total. It works quite well if we consider the medals haul Britain has so far in comparison to united states. Your idea depends on support? Your idea has merit in building sports science and coaching. It will take years to implement and it depends heavily on the philanthropists and coaches with expertise which is obviously lacking at present in the country. The system in place in Nigeria is similar to the Jamaica system, the problem is after they are discovered, and when they turn professional. That is what the lottery fund addresses, that is what my idea wants to tackle. It is simple, very workable solution, and is not complicated like what you suggest, plus no one feels they have wasted their money if the athlete fails.

The lottery system sounds good but we really need credible people to manage it. Does Nigeria have a collegiate system like the states?

As far as I know we have a system similar to Jamaica , with school competitions and state competitions. Not sure about national competitions, I believe it extends to university (university games) . We do not have problem with land like the UK. There were plenty of football fields in Lagos when I was growing up. Just no facilities and experts in their fields, there was always great enthusiasm for inter house sports, school competitions but the facilities varied from school to school, state to state.

[wanaj0]

http://www.nationallotterylondon2012.co.uk/

here is what national lottery does...

Again, national lottery was started in Nigeria some years ago and it died a natural death. It failed mainly because lottery/gambling is not an acceptable practice. Goodluck to you as you market gambling as a way of life in Nigeria.

You need to situate things in proper context. Same reasons why few Nigerians will allow their children to participate in beauty pageant. That lottery worked in the UK does not mean it will work in Nigeria. Mindset is just different. I know Chinese nationals who travel all over just to gamble. It is more or less an acceptable practice. Say you are going to gamble in Nigeria and watch us organise deliverance service for you. You can call us names but we don't have to adopt other peoples lifestyle.

Back to sports we need to provide the infrastructures. The more people that have access to the facilities the better.

We need the economy to boom also so as to attract corporate sponsorship. There was a time when we have the Ogre Harcourt as an ITF tournament. We use to have the Lord Rumens Classic. Apart from government only few individuals are ready to put their money into anything. We just want to feed fat on the money.

Reality now is that our love for sports does not touch our pockets. We have other things we think are more important.

[Mr. Piffington]

Britain punches above its weight with medals total. It works quite well if we consider the medals haul Britain has so far in comparison to united states. Your idea depends on support? Your idea has merit in building sports science and coaching. It will take years to implement and it depends heavily on the philanthropists and coaches with expertise which is obviously lacking at present in the country. The system in place in Nigeria is similar to the Jamaica system, the problem is after they are discovered, and when they turn professional. That is what the lottery fund addresses, that is what my idea wants to tackle. It is simple, very workable solution, and is not complicated like what you suggest, plus no one feels they have wasted their money if the athlete fails.

The lottery system sounds good but we really need credible people to manage it. Does Nigeria have a collegiate system like the states?

As far as I know we have a system similar to Jamaica , with school competitions and state competitions. Not sure about national competitions, I believe it extends to university (university games) . We do not have problem with land like the UK. There were plenty of football fields in Lagos when I was growing up. Just no facilities and experts in their fields, there was always great enthusiasm for inter house sports, school competitions but the facilities varied from school to school, state to state.

Now the question should be: How do we improve on what we have? How do we make it more competitive?

[soothsayer]

soothsayer, I agree completely that we need to find the means to fund sports. I would add to this that we can't stop at just thinking of how the money is raised. We need to also ask questions such as, 'if we suddenly provided a windfall sum of $10 billion for Nigerian sports', what will happen to that money? It is important to ask this question now because not having an answer will create doubts in the minds of some people that may want to provide funds for sports.

Agreed Roman, which is why I believe that funds rather being directed through a body, should be targeted at the individual athlete or team. The reason why i like the lottery system is that it is privately run, which means that anyone working there has a personal incentive to see it succeed. (you have an investment in seeing it succeed). We can then distribute funds based on merit. we target state champions, national champions. We will try not to replicate what sports authorities are meant to do, but what we can do is expose what the authorities fail to do by getting these peoples stories. We will adapt an open accounting system, I don't know if part of the funds should go to facilities as well because facilities require a different type of monitoring and there are issues of security, vandalism and maintenance, problems we have yet to resolve in Nigeria.

[soothsayer]

I know Milo does this already.
http://www.community.nestle.com/nutriti ... ramme.aspx

And schools have started to revive their sports programs, but I think we can focus on unique sports by
supporting schools who produce talent, thus encouraging them to maintain their sports program and
making other schools enthusiastic about getting these rewards. We can reward P.E teachers who show talent
and people who manage sports clubs. We need to start and focus on sports clubs and competitions (amateur) for new
sports like cycling, swimming. Jamaica seemed to have introduced the athletics clubs to stem the outflow of talent
who go abroad to train and don't come back. We don't need expensive stuff. just sports halls accessible to local sports
enthusiasts and schools, which can double for community halls used for events, parties and ceremonies.

[soothsayer]

Coaching in Jamaica
(cited from Wikipedia)

In recent years, Jamaican athletes have decided to stay in Jamaica to train. Stephen Francis a Jamaican coach created the MVP (Maximising Velocity and Power) club in 2001 based in University of Technology (UTech), Kingston. He created this club because he felt Jamaican athletes were becoming "Americans" not interested in coming back to Jamaica. In 2001 Brigitte Foster-Hylton came from America and joined this club. Foster was an unknown in the first year so no one was interested in sponsoring her. Francis sold his car to keep funding the club. In late 2001 Asafa Powell an athlete with a personal best of 10.70 joined the club. In the years to come Asafa Powell smashed the 100 m world record twice. Bridgette set a new national record in the 100 m hurdles and is now Commonwealth champion. Sherone Simpson hadn’t won a race and since joining the club she is now one of the world’s top sprinters and Olympic silver medallist. Francis also coaches 100 m Olympic Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser, Olympic 400 m silver medallist Shericka Williams and 400 m hurdles Olympic Gold medalist Melaine Walker. Francis has also influenced the careers of Ainsley Waugh and Germaine Mason. Jamaica's recent successes are thanks to home based coaches like Stephen Francis and if Jamaica can continue producing coaches like Stephen Francis they will remain successful. A few years ago the Jamaican Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) built the High Performance Training Centre in UTech to try to get athletes to stay in Jamaica since it was built there are now several high profile athletes from all over the Caribbean training there including triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt, under the tutelage of Jamaican Sprint Guru Glen Mills. Glen Mills has recently set up a new club in Jamaica called the Racers Track Club which has athletes such as Usain Bolt and Daniel Bailey from Antigua.

this win-win for this club, as it becomes more successful, he will get more funding get more students and other coaches and improve on sport science, he might even get government support. I believe in evolving organisations, companies rather than just building them because evolving organisations which survive and grow have a solid foundation. Their growth is proof of success and does not require massive funds and period of waiting to see if it succeeds. The Oregon Project , which coach Salvador started is similar in that he focused on sport and produced 2 medalists in Mo Farah and Rudd in 10,000m. In the UK Newham and begale athletics club, I actually used to workout there and jog but stopped when I realized it was being used by professional athletes lol , .http://www.newhamandessexbeagles.co.uk/ ... e-we-train. these facilites are not beyond our means....

[Ekorian]

Isn't there something called "Baba Ijebu" in Lagos?