Why cant Nigeria have a National lottery to fund sports

[Mr. Piffington]

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....

Not a bad proposal at all. It's going to take someone with alot of dedication and determination to start up something like that in Naija.

[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....

Not a bad proposal at all. It's going to take someone with alot of dedication and determination to start up something like that in Naija.

it takes a small group who can share the workload and goals.... all committed with same ideals, willing to sacrifice time and dedication to the project. However if it succeeds its possible to build and support larger projects without government politics and shenanigans. Therefore avoiding the issues like corruption, politics and budget constraints that hinder or hamper talent. It won't be solution for all our sporting problems, since its budget will be limited but maybe it can inspire people with much more money to do bigger things. Nigerians need inspiration , but things that they can see in their communities, if they don't see it we don't tend to believe it.

[amafolas]

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....

University associated elite sports club. hmmm sounds like an euphemism for chemistry lab to me.

[Mr. Piffington]

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....

University associated elite sports club. hmmm sounds like an euphemism for chemistry lab to me.

[soothsayer]

University associated elite sports club. hmmm sounds like an euphemism for chemistry lab to me.

[marko]

hmm the lottery boss will be seen shopping in harrods after refusing to pay out the winners, Nigeria has no interest in sports, even football which is their national sports, look at the super eagles, hopeless lot!!

[Oba]

hmm the lottery boss will be seen shopping in harrods after refusing to pay out the winners, Nigeria has no interest in sports, even football which is their national sports, look at the super eagles, hopeless lot!!

Harrods is for 'small boys' now. You find the Nigerians in the exclusive boutique shops on Bond street, where they buzz you in and serve you bubbly in crystal... the shops where you're most likely to get in if you're black or arab, not some poor yankee or Australian tourist with a rucksack.

[Riversboy]

I think it is fair to say that the current Government-dependent system in our sports has failed, and will continue to fail. The problems that beset Nigerian governance in general make that inevitable for now.

if we private citizens are serious about saving our sport, we have to "rub minds" and find ways to organize outside of government.

I am a big believer in the "adopt-a-blank" approach. We have to create an avenue for people to donate (money, time, expertise, equipment) transparently to a specific need chosen from a menu. We must crowdsource sports sponsorship. It is something that i have started working on for projects in my LGA. It can be applied to sport fairly easily. It would have to start small, maybe focusing on the most popular sports, but as it gets more support it can be scaled up.

Imagine, if you will...


A website/social network dedicated to watching the progress of Nigerian sport programs. It should, for each sport it covers, enumerate all the requirements to make our athletes competitive at Olympic level, and serve as a clearinghouse for getting those resources to the athletes, teams, clubs, programs and federations. It would be sensible to start with sports like track and field where solo training is possible, and one need not go through the governing body. I say this because we all know that in the Nigerian context, it is safer to deal with individuals than with governing bodies purported to represent them. Later, when the site and its backing organization have more experience, it will be possible to vet organizations in a sort of "credit-rating" system, to determine how much they can be trusted.

So, the site lists the athletes' requirements, and allows people to "adopt" specific aspects of the athlete's program. I can donate to part of her living expenses, while another helps pay for her coach, etc. if there is a particular facility she uses, other people may choose to pay to upgrade certain equipment there, etc.

Such a site would require legwork to get to the athletes and coaches, and document their current conditions. It would require consultancy to figure out what the "international best practices" are in the particular sport, so the site knows what menu items to make available.

I'm just brain-riffing here.

RB.

[MI5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria_Olympic_Committee

The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) is the National Olympic Committee for Nigeria, responsible for coordinating and supporting Nigerian competitors in the Olympic Games.

Leadership

The President of the NOC as of 2011 was Sani Ndanusa who had been Minister of Sports from 17 December 2008 to 17 March 2010. Ndanusa first said he aspired to become NOC President when he was Minister of Sports, but in November 2009 the NOC screening committee disqualified him on the basis that documents he had submitted were allegedly "forged, altered and not dated".[2] To be eligible for NOC President a candidate has to have served for four years in an executive position in an international sports federation. The NOC said that Ndanusa had not yet served for four years as Vice-President of the Confederation of African Tennis, and alleged that his election as President of the Nigeria Tennis Federation was invalid since he did not attend the election.[3]


Ndanusa responded by suspending the incumbent NOC President Habu Gumel from his post as President of the Nigeria Volley Ball Federation and setting up a commission of inquiry into the allegations.[2] He was elected in September 2010 to replace former president Habu Gumel, and Tunde Popola was elected as Secretary General with 21 votes against two votes for the incumbent Banji Oladapo. At first, the IOC declared that the election was invalid since the outgoing President and Secretary General of the NOC had not been present.[2] A second election was held at which Ndanusa was the only candidate and the IOC accepted the result.[4]


Activities

Due to a growing number of court cases related to sports in Nigeria, in January 2011 the NOC began the process to establish a local branch of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Engineer Sani Ndanusa said "We are highly disturbed by the number of court cases in Nigerian sports. If we do not check this ugly incident, Nigerian sports will slide into the valley".[5]

On 5 July 2011, the NOC again delayed inauguration of the new board of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation (NRFF) when key members of the NRFF board failed to show up.[6] On 14 July 2011 the NOC finally brought together the feuding parties of NRFF, inaugurating a new board. The NOC Scribe, Honourable Tunde Popoola wiped away tears at the ceremony.[7]

Nigeria performed poorly at the September 2011 All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, coming third after South Africa and Egypt. However NOC 1st Vice-Chairman Jonathan Nnaji said this was due to an arbitrary selection of events by the organizer, excluding sports such as weightlifting, wrestling and power lifting in which Nigeria traditionally excels. He said the results should not be taken as indicating how well the country would perform in the Olympics.[8] In October 2011, the Super Eagles, Nigeria's national football team, was ousted from the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Sani Ndanusa, President of the NOC, called for earlier and more intense training to ensure success in future competitions.


2012 Olympics

In January 2011 the NOC announced that it had chosen Loughborough University as training camps for Team Nigeria prior to the London 2012 Olympic Games, a location that would also be used by the Japanese athletes.[10] In June 2011 the NOC signed a deal for its team to train at the University of Surrey.[11] Speaking at the contract signing ceremony, Ndanusa said Nigeria was ready to confront the World. He said "In the past Olympics, we've been participating but come 2012, we’ll compete with other Nations".[12][/size][/color]




In July 2011 Youdees Integrated Services Limited (YISL) was appointed Official Partners of the NOC to manage the 2012 Olympic Games commercial promotions scheme. The marketing consultants were to re-position the organization and raise funds for the 2012 Games in London.[13] That month a partnership between the Bank of Industry and the Nigeria Olympic Committee was announced. The goal was to exploit all the business opportunities that would be available before, during and after the 2012 London Olympics. The Bank's CEO, Evelyn Oputu, said "The project will provide jobs, expose investment opportunities and create the new image that we want for Nigeria".[14]



In August 2011 the NOC said it had a budget of $220,000 with the goal of obtaining 11 gold medals at the 2012 Olympic Games. The NOC said that 11 athletes would each receive $4,000 every three months in the lead up to the games, and these payments had started the previous month. The athletes were not named, but were drawn from athletics, weightlifting, canoeing and taekwando.[15][/b]



The NOC is affiliated with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is a member of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA). Affiliated organizations in Nigeria include:[16]

Nigeria Amateur Boxing Federation
Nigeria Amateur Wrestling Federation
Nigeria Athletics Federation
Nigeria Baseball & Softball Federation
Nigeria Cycling Federation- Who are the current Cyclists in Nigeria at the moment?
Nigeria Fencing Federation- Did we even submit anyone for fencing at this Olympics?
Nigeria Football Federation
Nigeria Gymnastics Federation- Any Gymnastics men or women?
Nigeria Hockey Federation- Anyone currently playing at the moment?
Nigeria Rugby Football Federation- Rugby, interesting.. Anyone?
Nigeria Table Tennis Association
Nigeria Taekwondo Federation- Anyone? We use to be good at this back in the days...
Nigeria Tennis Federation- Tennis...
Nigeria Weightlifting Federation

What good are these associations for and what are their roles if they can't even groom talents to begin with....

[tippy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria_Olympic_Committee

The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) is the National Olympic Committee for Nigeria, responsible for coordinating and supporting Nigerian competitors in the Olympic Games.

Leadership

The President of the NOC as of 2011 was Sani Ndanusa who had been Minister of Sports from 17 December 2008 to 17 March 2010. Ndanusa first said he aspired to become NOC President when he was Minister of Sports, but in November 2009 the NOC screening committee disqualified him on the basis that documents he had submitted were allegedly "forged, altered and not dated".[2] To be eligible for NOC President a candidate has to have served for four years in an executive position in an international sports federation. The NOC said that Ndanusa had not yet served for four years as Vice-President of the Confederation of African Tennis, and alleged that his election as President of the Nigeria Tennis Federation was invalid since he did not attend the election.[3]


Ndanusa responded by suspending the incumbent NOC President Habu Gumel from his post as President of the Nigeria Volley Ball Federation and setting up a commission of inquiry into the allegations.[2] He was elected in September 2010 to replace former president Habu Gumel, and Tunde Popola was elected as Secretary General with 21 votes against two votes for the incumbent Banji Oladapo. At first, the IOC declared that the election was invalid since the outgoing President and Secretary General of the NOC had not been present.[2] A second election was held at which Ndanusa was the only candidate and the IOC accepted the result.[4]


Activities

Due to a growing number of court cases related to sports in Nigeria, in January 2011 the NOC began the process to establish a local branch of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Engineer Sani Ndanusa said "We are highly disturbed by the number of court cases in Nigerian sports. If we do not check this ugly incident, Nigerian sports will slide into the valley".[5]

On 5 July 2011, the NOC again delayed inauguration of the new board of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation (NRFF) when key members of the NRFF board failed to show up.[6] On 14 July 2011 the NOC finally brought together the feuding parties of NRFF, inaugurating a new board. The NOC Scribe, Honourable Tunde Popoola wiped away tears at the ceremony.[7]

Nigeria performed poorly at the September 2011 All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, coming third after South Africa and Egypt. However NOC 1st Vice-Chairman Jonathan Nnaji said this was due to an arbitrary selection of events by the organizer, excluding sports such as weightlifting, wrestling and power lifting in which Nigeria traditionally excels. He said the results should not be taken as indicating how well the country would perform in the Olympics.[8] In October 2011, the Super Eagles, Nigeria's national football team, was ousted from the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Sani Ndanusa, President of the NOC, called for earlier and more intense training to ensure success in future competitions.


2012 Olympics

In January 2011 the NOC announced that it had chosen Loughborough University as training camps for Team Nigeria prior to the London 2012 Olympic Games, a location that would also be used by the Japanese athletes.[10] In June 2011 the NOC signed a deal for its team to train at the University of Surrey.[11] Speaking at the contract signing ceremony, Ndanusa said Nigeria was ready to confront the World. He said "In the past Olympics, we've been participating but come 2012, we’ll compete with other Nations".[12][/size][/color]




In July 2011 Youdees Integrated Services Limited (YISL) was appointed Official Partners of the NOC to manage the 2012 Olympic Games commercial promotions scheme. The marketing consultants were to re-position the organization and raise funds for the 2012 Games in London.[13] That month a partnership between the Bank of Industry and the Nigeria Olympic Committee was announced. The goal was to exploit all the business opportunities that would be available before, during and after the 2012 London Olympics. The Bank's CEO, Evelyn Oputu, said "The project will provide jobs, expose investment opportunities and create the new image that we want for Nigeria".[14]



In August 2011 the NOC said it had a budget of $220,000 with the goal of obtaining 11 gold medals at the 2012 Olympic Games. The NOC said that 11 athletes would each receive $4,000 every three months in the lead up to the games, and these payments had started the previous month. The athletes were not named, but were drawn from athletics, weightlifting, canoeing and taekwando.[15][/b]



The NOC is affiliated with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is a member of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA). Affiliated organizations in Nigeria include:[16]

Nigeria Amateur Boxing Federation
Nigeria Amateur Wrestling Federation-
Nigeria Athletics Federation
Nigeria Baseball & Softball Federation
Nigeria Cycling Federation- Who are the current Cyclists in Nigeria at the moment?
Nigeria Fencing Federation- Did we even submit anyone for fencing at this Olympics? oh so we now have a fencing organisation?
Nigeria Football Federation
Nigeria Gymnastics Federation- Any Gymnastics men or women?
Nigeria Hockey Federation- Anyone currently playing at the moment?
Nigeria Rugby Football Federation- Rugby, interesting.. Anyone? a friend plays for Nigeria, they played in the african championship, should actually see how they did. Rugby 7s is going to be in rio, maybe we can sneak in.
Nigeria Table Tennis Association
Nigeria Taekwondo Federation- Anyone? We use to be good at this back in the days...
Nigeria Tennis Federation- Tennis...
Nigeria Weightlifting Federation- read an article the other day that said that we could've carried more lifters to london but we didn't attend crucial qualification tournaments leaving us with only two quota places.

What good are these associations for and what are there roles if they can't even groom talents to begin with....

[realtrouble]

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?

It has to be a lottery funding system, something that is separated from government or private companies sources of income. That can provide and guarantee a constant flow of resources to our sporting people, charities and sporting infrastructures.

Why is the the Surulere stadium out of functions today or the Abuja Velodrome has rarely been used.
.

[soothsayer]

hmm the lottery boss will be seen shopping in harrods after refusing to pay out the winners, Nigeria has no interest in sports, even football which is their national sports, look at the super eagles, hopeless lot!!

I am trying to push it out to you guys,,, you keep referring to "OTHER" people, why not "US" , why must we keep depending on other people and when they fail we say Nigerians are corrupt but yet we are unwilling to take responsibility ourselves, are we not able to gather donations when we hear of neglected sports people, so why not for funding?.... are you saying that there is not enough people with expertise among us to run this. . We can use an independent accounts and auditing company, which will be available for review during regular meetings. Anyone who does steal money would easily be exposed and fired. People get away with fraud in Nigeria because their is not enough people monitoring it or to many people with vested interests to keep corruption going, however if we are able to design a system where we have a independent auditor and where it is all in our interests to see this succeed we will be vigilant in routing out any possible fraud and mismanagement. Its all I'm saying.

[soothsayer]

I think it is fair to say that the current Government-dependent system in our sports has failed, and will continue to fail. The problems that beset Nigerian governance in general make that inevitable for now.

if we private citizens are serious about saving our sport, we have to "rub minds" and find ways to organize outside of government.

I am a big believer in the "adopt-a-blank" approach. We have to create an avenue for people to donate (money, time, expertise, equipment) transparently to a specific need chosen from a menu. We must crowdsource sports sponsorship. It is something that i have started working on for projects in my LGA. It can be applied to sport fairly easily. It would have to start small, maybe focusing on the most popular sports, but as it gets more support it can be scaled up.

Imagine, if you will...


A website/social network dedicated to watching the progress of Nigerian sport programs. It should, for each sport it covers, enumerate all the requirements to make our athletes competitive at Olympic level, and serve as a clearinghouse for getting those resources to the athletes, teams, clubs, programs and federations. It would be sensible to start with sports like track and field where solo training is possible, and one need not go through the governing body. I say this because we all know that in the Nigerian context, it is safer to deal with individuals than with governing bodies purported to represent them. Later, when the site and its backing organization have more experience, it will be possible to vet organizations in a sort of "credit-rating" system, to determine how much they can be trusted.

So, the site lists the athletes' requirements, and allows people to "adopt" specific aspects of the athlete's program. I can donate to part of her living expenses, while another helps pay for her coach, etc. if there is a particular facility she uses, other people may choose to pay to upgrade certain equipment there, etc.

Such a site would require legwork to get to the athletes and coaches, and document their current conditions. It would require consultancy to figure out what the "international best practices" are in the particular sport, so the site knows what menu items to make available.

I'm just brain-riffing here.

RB.

kpom... l like it... but we need to be honest with our selves , we will start with limited funds , so we have to decide whether to concentrate funds to either low number of talent or spread it among many. Also I feel we should limit this funding to those who
train in Nigeria because it would be harder to monitor athletes who travel abroad, or am I wrong? Looking at the Jamaican
case they started losing athletes to USA when they started traveling to train in their high grade facilities.
Jamaica eventually stemmed it when coaches started setting up back home and started coaching world champion winning athletes.
If we can sponsor both talented coaches and athletes we might be able to get enough support to build grade A- training
facilities that can become self-funding. via having athletes from west-Africa use the facilities. Not sure if this idea has merit
or not, but we need to think long term. Also I feel that we should try to limit what we do least we overstep , we don't want
to do the job of sports authorities just expose their lack of initiative. So every time we get an athlete we first highlight
the problems of the athlete through website, through blogs , etc then we offer to sponsor. I actually think we can set up
a radio broadcast, in uk there is a competition called how low where people call in on radio and try to make the lowest bid,
each call will cost a certain amount but there will be a prize at the end, but we should make enough funds from that to
do something. The radio program can also help follow up on sports, talk about funding issues, interview coaches and
talent, discuss latest sports and technique, as a result we not only get sports back on peoples minds, we also get advertising
revenue, provide knowledge of sports and keep people updated on our talent, (and keep our talent on their toes if they mess up).

[soothsayer]

Marco I'm calling you out..... do you think this idea has merit ? If its a good idea is there anything you can do to support it?

[Cristao II]

Another avenue for chopping money!

[Mr. Piffington]

Another avenue for chopping money!

[soothsayer]

Another avenue for chopping money!

So cristao if we hand the management of the finances to you it won't happen right???

Tell me you are part of the solution...

[soothsayer]

People keep saying people will chop money, are we saying that their are no companies in Nigeria run by honest men, and all private companies chop money. There are acutaly british registered companies run by oyinbo who are basically funding and enterprise support firms focused on funding ideas in third world companies, if they can do something like that. What on earth are Nigerians in the expatriate community doing?????

when these funding companies start making millions from returns on great ideas in third world companies you people will be scratching head. There are a lot of people with ideas and will back in Nigeria but no financial means or expertise. In Europe and America there is a lot of money swooshing around looking for opportunities but afraid of investing in the recession laden Europe. Nigerians have charisma and talent ,if only we had ambition and belief.

[wanaj0]

Marco I'm calling you out..... do you think this idea has merit ? If its a good idea is there anything you can do to support it?

Are you sure he is a Nigerian?

[fabio]

The solution that can work is to encourage rich Nigerians sponsor their child's training programme like Chika Chukumerije.

[soothsayer]

The solution that can work is to encourage rich Nigerians sponsor their child's training programme like Chika Chukumerije.

I was trying to encourage talent from grassroots who are ignored and thus fall by the wayside due to lack of support and the tough environment presently in Nigeria. Chukumerije whose father was the former information minister I care less about , the athletes born abroad have access to sponsorship abroad they don't need our help . It is the underclass, the talent that is ignored that has the greatest potential. When underclass see that someone can come from nowhere to become a world super-star it empowers people. It encourages ambition and not criminality. It also provides competition and improves the quality of athletes we later send to compete in world competitions.

[soothsayer]

Marco I'm calling you out..... do you think this idea has merit ? If its a good idea is there anything you can do to support it?

Are you sure he is a Nigerian?

well... I hope to also expose those who just like to rant but don't provide any contribution to this site. I don't mind constructive criticism of ideas , but I can't stand people who go out of their way to discourage people when they do nothing themselves to find a solution. You don't have to cure the whole Nigeria. Just improving your local area where you live by setting up business and giving employment to people is enough.

[Mr. Piffington]

The solution that can work is to encourage rich Nigerians sponsor their child's training programme like Chika Chukumerije.

I was trying to encourage talent from grassroots who are ignored and thus fall by the wayside due to lack of support and the tough environment presently in Nigeria. Chukumerije whose father was the former information minister I care less about , the athletes born abroad have access to sponsorship abroad they don't need our help . It is the underclass, the talent that is ignored that has the greatest potential. When underclass see that someone can come from nowhere to become a world super-star it empowers people. It encourages ambition and not criminality.