Make sport a priority, Moniedafe tells Buhari

Former Green Eagles star, Francis Moniedafe, has urged the President-elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to make sports a priority in his government.

The US-based Moniedafe stated this in a letter titled: Open Letter to President-Elect Muhammadu Buhari.

“Your election as Nigeria’s President on March 28, 2015 was both welcoming and re-assuring. We, the ex-Nigerian sportsmen, had hoped for a long awaited change not only in the management of sports but also in the management of the country’s affairs. We dreamed of it, longed for it, and during the campaigns we began to think that at last our dreams would come true,” the letter read.

It stated further, “As you know, our floundering is not because there are no talents in Nigeria’s sports. Nigeria is an unending conveyor belt of talents in any sport, both individual and team sports…The change is a goal to achieve sports excellence in a more consistent and sustained basis. It can be done.

“However, to achieve this is to make one conscious decision. You must appoint a knowledgeable and ex-sportsperson at the helm of sports in Nigeria. We cannot afford another Sports Minister who has little knowledge of sports; a person who has not done sports at the top level, has not lived it, and has not sweated it. There are several Nigerian men and women who have done sport, are highly educated, are highly qualified, and are committed to putting Nigerian sports in the position to achieve consistently. These men and women can be found in both Nigeria and overseas.

“Let me add that sport should not be considered as an afterthought as it has been construed in the past. Often, it was considered a place where political appointees who ordinarily are not fit for other portfolios may be sequestered.”