We are keeping youths off the street through sport development, empowerment —Youth & Sport Commissioner, Oyo
Oyo State has indeed began to regain its pacesetting status in the area of sports with the remodeling of the Lekan Salami sports complex, Adamasingba, Ibadan and the recent promotion of the Shooting stars Sport Club to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) after four years of relegation. These landmark achievements are significant efforts made by the state to make the Shooting Stars Sport Club a veritable market success. In this interview, the Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Honourable Seun Fakorede gives a detailed account of the steps undertaken by his Ministry to retrieve the lost glory of the sport club. According to him, the Governor Seyi Makinde-led Administration has developed keen interest in keeping youths off the street through sport related empowerment and development. On political participation, he believes all youths need to step out of their comfort zones and get involved before a looming “gunpowder” in the nation explodes. Excerpts:
How has been the journey, so far; what is the level of your attainment since you assumed office in August 2019?
It’s been an interesting journey with several ups and downs, but the major thing that keeps one going is the level of impact that one has been able to register into the system through the support of my principal Engr. Seyi Makinde. Honestly, I don’t think any public servant can achieve much without the support of a responsible and responsive principal. I am quite thankful that I’m working with a head that gives us the opportunity to thrive. Having said that, there has been a lot of projects that we’ve been able to achieve in the space of two years. We’ve embarked on sport projects as well as empowerment projects for the youths with the aim of keeping them off the street.
To the glory of God when I came to the office, the shooting stars sport club (3SC) was playing at the lower division, the second tier of the Nigeria football league, popularly known as the Nigerian National League II, but has been promoted to be part of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). This target was actually set by the Governor and I thank God that we were able to achieve it. The Oyo State Governor is someone that is quite passionate about fulfilling the promises he made to the people and all of us are working tenaciously to ensure that we deliver those promises. We’ve been able to engage in a talent identification exercise and Coach Education Clinic with West Bromwich Albion, England where 20 players were selected to proceed for a closed camping and trial in England. Also, we engaged in the remodelling of the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Adamasingba, the Olubadan Stadium, Iyaganku, Ibadan, Durbar Stadium, Oyo, Township Stadium, Ogbomoso, Ebedi Township Stadium, Iseyin and the construction of Saki Township Stadium and Igboora Stadium Complex.
Speaking of the players, it appears they are rough diamonds that need to be worked on to fulfill their potentials, is there a development programme that keeps the athletes busy and support them consistently for training and not just for attending competitions?
I like that you described them rough diamonds that need to be worked on to become crystal. Many of our players are young. Other clubs have older ones but we are lucky to have a crop of young players and so we do not joke with their welfare. We are actively involved in helping them shape their career. We have programmes that give adequate room for growth. I think we are doing well in this regard. I think welfare is actually one of our selling points. We prioritise the welfare of our players because our aim is to become number one in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) sphere. I personally believe that before you make people “touch the work” you have to first of all “touch their heart,” so we ensure that they train under very good conditions and provide the proper facility for their training. I think the club has everything needed to move on to the world.
We often hear about footballers complain about packed schedules and the inability to prepare early enough for competitions, what is the ministry doing to alleviate their stress especially before competitions?
Actually, my team have discussed about making sure the players travel by air, especially when they have to go to far locations, but we are faced with the challenge of paucity of funds. If we make it a rule, how do we sustain it? What we do is to work with the available funds that we have. Notwithstanding, we are not relenting on improving the status of 3SC. With current pace, I am sure we will be able to achieve that soon.
Are there initiatives to address the inequality in the sport sector, considering that other sports activities like swimming and tennis seem to be lagging behind football?
It is part of our plan to promote other sports. We do not only want to promote football which is why we have taken great measures to remodel and even reconstruct where necessary, our stadiums. We want to give everyone a platform where they can showcase and grow. We want to develop a real all-sport club, that promotes sports like Basketball, Boxing, Tennis and others. We are also working on having a formidable female team in every of these sporting activities. That way, we would be able to bring more people on board.
As a youth figure in politics, what is your advice to the Nigerian youths in view of the upcoming 2023 elections?
My own take is that Nigeria is at this level because the youths seem to have resorted to fate. We should know that things would continue to deteriorate if we don’t get involved. We need to shun the perception that votes don’t count. If they count, politicians won’t be buying them. Everyone needs to see things from the perspective of adding value. We all need to step out of our comfort zones and get involved before this “gunpowder” explodes.
