Coaches kick against scrapping of Sports Ministry in Anambra state

The Anambra Coaches Association on Monday appealed to the state governor, Willie Obiano, to rescind his decision to scrap the State Ministry of Sports.

The association, in a three-page letter signed by Aka Chika and Paul Okechukwu, Chairman and Secretary respectively, said its members were “lost’’ as to the true state of sports in Anambra.

“Our members are at a loss regarding sports’ loss of name on the list of ministries with no commissioner in charge.

“But since the attainment of ministry status in the year 2000, lots of laurels have been won and lives of many sportsmen and women transformed for good.

“We humbly wish to bring to your notice and to register our displeasure at the proposed plan to scrap the Ministry of Sports in the state.

“This information which has filtered into the ministry has thrown the entire staff into a state of despondency, confusion and uncertainty since they do not know their fate in this new arrangement.

“This action is viewed with every seriousness, considering the place of sports in Anambra State,’’ it said.

The coaches association said removing sports entirely from the new ministry’s nomenclature, and renaming it the Ministry of Youth Empowerment and Creative Economy, seems to relegate sports to the background.

“It should be placed on record that the entire staff of the defunct Anambra State Sports Council were absorbed into the Ministry of Youth and Sports in 2000 ensuring that they became an integral part of the State Civil Service.

“This laid to rest many years of job insecurity, arbitrary payment of salaries, personal emoluments and lack of gratuity/pension for their retirees.

“It also motivated staff to give their best to the state in terms of talent development, grassroots coaching, discovery and nurturing of great athletes who have contributed their quota in bringing the state to the limelight in sports.

“The proposal to now scrap the Sports Ministry will not augur well for sports development in the long run.

“It will take sports development many years back, putting the state in a reverse gear sports wise. It will seem like the biblical going back to Egypt,” it said.

The association chided the plan to establish a Sports Commission, saying it was out of tune with present realities “when even the Federal Government has scrapped the National Sports Commission (NSC)’’.

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It called for the strengthening and empowering of the various sports associations for a more effective and result-oriented administration of sports in the state.

The coaches’ body urged the state government to consult widely on this issue because “most states, and even the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports, have scrapped their Sports Commissions and NSC (as the case may be) in favour of having ministries.’’

It pointed out that no meaningful height would be achieved in sports without adequate funding and the development of standard infrastructure.

It said this include a standard stadium, complete with an indoor sports hall and hostel facilities for camping and community playgrounds being built across the state.

“We also need sponsorship for state athletes to both national and international competitions where they will win laurels and bring back honour to the state.

“Government will also develop sports through the use of various sports associations, which were inaugurated by the immediate-past Commissioner for Youth Entrepreneurship and Sports Development but are yet to resume duties,’’ the coaches association said.