Lack of infrastructure maintenance culture affecting Nigeria’s sports development — Pinnick

Amaju Pinnick, a former President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), on Tuesday in Ibadan said one of the major challenges confronting sports development in Nigeria was lack of maintenance.

Pinnick, a member of the FIFA Council, while delivering a Personality Guest Lecture at the Faculty of Education of University of Ibadan, said there was the need for an immediate remedy.

It was reported that the lecture had the title “The Challenges of Sports Infrastructure and Maintenance in Nigeria: Prospect for the Podium Performance”.

Pinnick said Nigeria was hugely blessed with talented and skill individuals but the country is lacking in adequate facilities where those individuals would exhibit their talents and skills.

“What we lack in Nigeria is a culture of maintenance and it starts from our homes. If you did not maintain your homes, how will you maintain the sports facilities,” he said.

Pinnick said countries like Morroco, Egypt, Brazil, Germany and England are performing well in sports due to their investment in sports infrastructure development.

He said Nigeria has everything to succeed and called on State and Federal Governments to work with sports administrators in the country while renovating stadiums in order to have standard sports facilities in Nigeria.

“Nigeria cannot host FIFA competitions because most of the stadiums in Nigeria don’t have what it takes to call the facility a stadium.

“For example, the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo which we see as our best presently cannot qualify for such classification.

“It because it does not even have hospitality suites from where FIFA generates at least 30 percent of its revenue from matches,” the CAF Executive Committee member said.

He went on to point out that hosting team tournaments requires good maintenance of sports infrastructure.

Pinnick stated that this was why State and Federal Governments needed to plan and invest in sports infrastructure for the development of sports in the country.

“This will also enable our athletes to win medals both at home and at international competitions,” he said.

Pinnick called on Nigerians not to be discouraged however, adding that the rebirth of the National Sports Commission (NSC) was a good indication.

“It shows that President Bola Tinubu means well for sports development in Nigeria, and with the appointment of Shehu Dikko as the NSC Chairman, there is a ray of hope,” he added.

Earlier, the Dean of Faculty of Education, Prof. Olufemi Adegbesan, said the personality lecture offered the faculty an opportunity and showed the desire to contribute to the development of Nigeria.

Adegbesan, who described Pinnick as a versatile football administrator with good track record in football administration, noted that he was eminently qualify to deliver the lecture.

He said the knowledge gained at the lecture would be useful for the overall development of football and sports generally in Nigeria.

In his remarks, the NSC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, said one of the fundamental objectives of the commission was to focus on the infrastructure challeges in sports in Nigeria.

Dikko said that good infrastructure in Nigeria would contribute to the development of sports in the country.

Also speaking, the NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau, said it was disheartening to know that Nigeria had only one stadium that was approved by FIFA for international football to be played.

The Vice-Chancellor of University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, in his remarks said sports in Nigeria which was doing well in the past had began to wobble recently.

Adebowale said the country should therefore not expect to win medals at international competitions without addressing the challenges of infrastructure.