Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare has been conferred with Sarkin Wasanni (King/Leader of Games) title by the Emir of Daura, Dr Umar Farouk Umar CON, on the 22nd December 2022.

The traditional title is in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Nation building through grassroots Sports Development.

According to Emir of Daura, Dr Farouk Umar, “your hardwork in Sporting world can never go unnoticed. We do recognise hardwork and thanks for giving Daura Mini Stadium a new look, which has drawn many sons of the soil to watch local football.

“We followed your track records in Sports and youth Development. It is quite worthy of note”, His Royal highness spoke in Hausa language.

According to the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, the New Sarkin Wasanni spoke with great emotions. He appreciated the President of the country, President Muhammadu Buhari who gave him the opportunity to serve his fatherland, which has brought recognition of hard work.

“I want to sincerely thank the Emir of Daura, Dr Farouk Umar for the title of Sarkin Wasanni, that can only encourage me to do more for Youth and Sports Development.

“The atmosphere in Daura for me, signposts for excellence should come in first, in whatever we do”, Mr. Sunday Dare concluded.

In a colourful ceremony that saw great captains of different industries in attendance, to mention few are two Ministers who were conferred with the Royal honour; Hon. Sunday Dare and Minister of Petroleum, Hon. Timipre Silva.

Also, who is who in football fraternity stormed Daura. The likes of Permanent Secretary of Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Mallam Ismaila Abubakar, Chairman Taskforce of age grade National teams Alhaji Kurfi Aminu Balele, Special Assistant to the President Daniel Amokachi, NFF President Alhaji Ibrahim Gusua, NFF board member Alhaji Sherrif Inuwa.

Presenting the achievements today during the International Press Briefing held at the National Press Centre, Abuja, Dare stated that his Ministry has
the mandate to promote the physical, mental and socio- economic development of the youth, constituting the largest demographic composition representing 65% of our population.

He stated that, under the present Administration, the Sports and Youth sector has witnessed tremendous turn around through the implementation of well-thought out initiatives, programmes and policies targeted not only at empowering our youth but also moving sports away from mere recreation to business. This he said, was with a view to contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.

While describing the youth as the strength and future of our nation, Dare observed that “fixing them is fixing the country” and that was why he added, that the present Administration embarked on empowering them through the acquisition of various skills to make them enterpreneurial, employable as well as employers of labour. Stating further that so far, a total of 432,812 youth have benefited from the various training programmes which
include Cyber Security, Web Development, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Coding, among others

This, he noted, became realisable through its Digital Skills Acquisition, Enterpreneurship, Employability, Leadership and Mentorship (DEEL) programme in collaboration with other development partners.

The Minister explained that, in order to provide access to funds to empower the teeming Nigerian Youth, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Administration committed N75 billion to National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF). Of this amount he said, 26,000 applicants have so far accessed N10bn out of the fund while the next trench of N10bn is slated for disbursement in January 2023.

He said that the present Administration also boosted the commitment of graduates during the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), through the increment of their allowances from N19,800 to N33,000 from January 2020.

On the Sports Sector, Dare informed that, it has also witnessed a massive face-lift through its Initiatives/Projects such as Adopt-an-Athlete, Pitch, Sports, Talent Hunt Programme as well as Welfare Fund for Athletes which had led to various sponsorship opportunities for them, thus leading to the numerous medals being harvested in different competitions within and outside the country.

He noted that the Administration was able to revive the National Principals’ Cup, OSOM Games, National Youth Games as well as the National Sports Festival which is a forum for the discovery of talents.

The Minister emphasised that, the present Administration, in recognition of the sterling performance of our athletes at the Commonweath Games hosted them to a Presidential Reception and gifted them a cash award of Two hundred million naira, including National Honours.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed stated that the event which was launched on October 19, 2022 is the 14th Edition in the Administration’s Scorecard Series

He stated that the programme was organised by the Ministry to avail the public of the numerous achievements recorded by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government since the inception of the present Administration till date.

Signed
Mohammed Manga
Director, Press and Public Relations
December 20, 2021

The Sports Minister Sunday Dare has congratulated 3SC of Ibadan for winning the NPFL pre season tournament dubbed the Dozy Mmobuosi Cup.

3SC defeated Enyimba FC of Aba 3- 2 to emerge winners of the Super Four Competition on Friday inside the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos.

According to the Minister, “I want to first congratulate the organisers for putting up a quality pre season tournament, where the winner is taking home N100 million, 2nd placed team N75 million and the 3rd place winners N50 million, that’s quite remarkable and commendable. I’m glad that we are beginning to get it right as far as the league is concerned.

“This Super Four signifies what is expected in the league. I want to charge the Interim Management Committee(IMC)to do more, so that we can have a better league in terms of TV coverage and competition among the clubs,” the Minister said.

• Youth Ministry, Halogen Splashes N1m Reward On Top 10 Cyber Security Trainees .

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare has stated that the challenge of youth bulge across the African continent has made it imperative for Governments to do more for youth development and empowerment.

Speaking as the Chief Host at the National Youth Day and African Youth Day celebration tagged ‘Breaking The Barriers to Meaningful Youth Participation and Inclusion In Advocacy’, the Minister cited the various empowerment programmes and the ‘Not too Young To Run’ Bill assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari as part of measures that has enhanced economic and political inclusion for Nigeria’s teeming youth.

According to Dare, “The N-power programme, an integral part of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), which has empowered and upskilled over 1m Youth is regarded as the most ambitious social protection programme in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Closely following that is the N75bn National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), the very first of its kind in our country, approved by the President, two years ago, which has provided credit to over 20,000 young people with the numbers being scaled up to over 31,000 shortly.

“With these NYIF beneficiaries receiving between N250,000 to N3m, Government is investing in their ideas, investing in their small, micro and medium enterprises which will turn them to creators of wealth, employers of labour and also those that can contribute to the GDP of our country.

“But also, we must speak to the political will. Almost three years ago, President Buhari signed the ‘Not too Young To Run’ Bill. That Bill, now an Act of the National Assembly, strikes at the heart of inclusivity at the political level. In about three years, we have seen the number of our youth in elective offices from the local to national level on the rise. We believe that our youth must tap into this opportunity as we move into another election year to become part of the process,” the Minister emphasised.

Throwing more light on efforts to address the youth bulge in Nigeria, Dare revealed a problem of skill and certificate mismatch in relation to available jobs in the country.

“A very telling example is the issue of cyber security experts. We found out at the Ministry that over 350,000 jobs were available for young cyber security experts. In order to tap into this for the benefit of our youth, we went into partnership with Halogen to train 31,000 youth, some of who will be rewarded today for coming out tops and performing excellently in the cyber security training programmes,” the Minister stated.

The highlight of the event was the symbolic presentation of cheques and announcement of N1m cash reward each for 10 youth who scored 100% at the Halogen cyber security training.

The Minister also announced the plan to further partner with Halogen to train 250,000 more youth in the next six months.

Sporting greetings to the sports community, families, athletes and the para- athletes who have been agitating over the removal of their sport at the forthcoming National Sports festival. I had wanted to keep mute over the issue of the removal of the Para Sports ahead of the 21st National Sports Festival in Delta but my phone had not stopped buzzing since Monday (17th October, 2022).

Some agitated para athletes staged a peaceful protest at the National Stadium in Surulere last Monday to express their displeasure over the removal of most of the para events while leaving three events. The National Council on Sports broke the camel back on Wednesday by announcing that no para sports will feature at the 21st National Sports Festival in Delta later this year.

Well, it is a good thing that the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development ably led by chief Sunday Akin Dare have decided to create a National Para Sports Festival but the timing for the non inclusion of the para sports is wrong.

Fortunately, the first edition of the National Para Sports Festival was held in Abuja last April and some states could not participate because they did not have budget. Those that made it to the festival had to stage some demonstration before the state governments decided to squeeze out money from their respective sport council and sport commission to attend the maiden edition.

If you paid attention, you will notice that the power house of Sports in Nigeria like Delta, Lagos, Edo, Osun States and few other could not send their representation. This led to some athletes disguising under the umbrella of clubs.

Fast forward to this time around, news filtering around is that of the National Council of Sports in Nigeria met and decide to remove three sport- the para sport that are making Nigeria proud and will continue to make Nigeria proud at future competitions. This implies that athletes like Bose Omolayo, Oluwafeimayo Alice, Innocent Nnamdi, Precious Orji, Latifat Tijani and many others will not be partaking in any national festival this year

If you notice the para- power lifters always come to our rescue when Nigeria is in need of medals. We have World Record holders, Commonwealth Games record holders Paralympic Games record holders who are making the country proud. It is the same thing with Para Table- Tennis and Para Athletes; they made Nigeria proud in this year commonwealth games.

So, it would be a disservice to treat them less human. We know the Minister of Youth and Sports have good intentions but the intentions are coming at the wrong time.

We should use the first edition of para- festival as a test- run and we should not disengage those that did not participate in April because many people are keen on attending the festival in Asaba.

We know the winners of the festival in some States gets as much as one million naira. And we all know what this one million can do in the lives of some of them. Some of them use it to pay their house rents and feed their families. You would also be surprised that if they don’t go to the national sport Festival in Dellta state the rate of unemployment in the country will increase.

It will be an eyesore to see Commonwealth Games champions and Paralympians going to streets to beg when they have other source of livelihood which includes the National Sports Festival

We are appealing to Directors of Sports in Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports to reconcile. It isnot yet late to include the para sport, the various sports Council and commission already have this para athlete included in their budget. So it is not going to be extra expenses. Their money is already there. So, I am appealing to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development as well as the National Council on Sports to include the para sports into the National Sports Festival. If we don’t, they will think you are doing them a great harm.

We are calling on well meaning Nigerians, traditional rulers, religious rulers and Ex International to appeal to the sport authority to consider bringing back the paradigm and include the para sports into the National Sports Festival.

For his tremendous job in revolutionize sports in Nigeria, Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare will be honored with the award of excellence in public service.

Mr. Dare who has been nominated by the Federal Government among other outstanding Nigerians who has distinguished themselves as a public servants will be decorated with the highest honor in the sector tagged Nigeria Excellence Awards in Public Service (NESPS)

According to release by Media Aide to the minister, Kola Adeyanju, Mr. Dare will be decorated with the award by President Muhammadu Buhari on 21st October, 2022 by 10am at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

Adeyanju added that there will be a forum for questions and answer with the Honourable Minister after the events .

Mr. Dare, since assumed office as Minister of Youth and Sports has introduced a lots of reforms that has helped to improve sports development in Nigeria.

He will also be remembered as the most successful sports minister in Nigeria with recent successes achieved by Team Nigeria at various international engagements.

It was with fun and pageantry that one of the newest financial institutions in the country, Premium Trust bank unveiled two of Nigerians biggest athletes, Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume as their Brand Ambassadors.

Tobi Amusan in 2022 had blaze several trails culminating in winning the World Championships and creating a new World Record in the Women 100m hurdles, first for any Nigerian living or dead, while Brume has been consistent since winning a bronze medal at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo before further medals at the World Indoors, World Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

Speaking at the unveiling, the minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, said the two athletes signpost the future of the country’s athletes.

He also called on corporate organisations and individuals not to wait until the athletes are crown champions before associating with them, they should invest with them when they are young.

“These athletes never relent, always thrive, consistent in their performances,” the minister said.

“Even on the big stage, they knew they had it in them and they never stop and when the time came, they showed up big time, they showed up for themselves first having done the sacrifices, gone through the discipline, because if you have talents and you don’t add discipline to it, you cannot excel.

“I want to thank Tobi for doing that job in Oregon, not just breaking the record, but breaking it twice same night. I am thanking you on behalf of this country Nigeria, we are grateful.

“Brume on her part, most telling moment for me at the Olympics in Tokyo was the moment finished fourth in her race, the only person that could comfort her is Ese, not even her coach could do that, I am happy seeing the two of them here, happy to see what they have attained so far.

“Ese came third at the Olympics, but to us, it was a Golden Bronze, thank you because when you came to the Commonwealth games, you did it again.”

Also speaking at the unveiling, the MD/CEO of the bank, Emmanuel Emefienim, said the major goal of the bank is to support growth hence the maxim ‘Together for Growth’.

According to Emefienim, they decided to associate with the two renown athletes to drive towards enabling growth they put into their story.

He added: “This should serve as motivation to other athletes who dare to be different and win no matter their background, obstacles they have been through to get to where they are today.

“The two athletes’ story is just like the bank and I am happy with where we are today and we hope the partnerships bring great impact to the athletes, the sports industry and the country.”

The two athletes appreciated the bank for counting them worthy to be the Brand Ambassador and promised to maintain the standard expected of them.

The Nigeria athletes to the just-concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and others who represented the country at other international events will be given a heroic welcome by the Federal Government at the Nigeria seat of power, Aso Villa, on Thursday.

However, coach Tony will not be among the list of people that will be recognized by the number citizen of the country

Many Nigerian journalists have expressed dismay over his omisssion saying he deserves to giving national recognition

Tolulope Oguntimehin, Head of Sports for ITV Abuja and Radio, said Tony’s contribution can not be swept under the carpet

“He has contributed immensely to the growth of the sports and has done more for gymnastics than the federation”.

Joel Ajayi a reporter with Aljazira Newspaper said he deserves some accolades and his name should be among those that will receive “presidential handshake” from Mr President

“It is really sad that his name was omitted and I think the Minister needs to do something fast about this”

Sly Ofekun, Head of Sports for Kiss FM Abuja said “I am really shocked that he was not included. This is really disheartening that Tony’s name will be missing from the list. He needs to be recognized for his contribution to the sports. He has done more for gymnastics than the gymnastics federation’

Tony Asuquo, the only coach in Nigeria certified by FIG (Federation of International Gymnastics) in Aerobic and Artistic gymnastics and one of the most qualified in the country, has produced athletes who have gone ahead to make the country proud in many international competitions.

The coach has most times been overlooked in national team appointments or recognitions despite the amount of effort he has put in at the grassroots to turn around the fortune of gymnastics in the country

Some of the athletes produced by the coach and have gone ahead to represent their states and Nigeria at National Sports festivals, African Youth Game and Africa Club Championship in South Africa are
Uche eke – first Nigerian gymnast to ever compete at the Olympics (Tokyo 2020) and the kid sensation Stephanie Onisiruka who is currently the number one female gymnast in the country, Gabriella Asemota, who represented Nigeria at African Youth Games in Algeria and also Iveren Hagher, are some of the names that have passed through his tutelage with other notable athletes like Tomisin Babatunde Akwa – Ibom; Ekezie Emeka – Delta; Josh Aliyu – katsina; Jesica Anne, Goodnews Kings and
Michael kings all from Katsina State.

Others are
Stephanie Onisiriuka – Anambara; Tunnishe Akinola – Akwa Ibom;
Daniella Asemota – FCT;
Mary David, Borni
Babarinde isheoluwa Akwa – Ibom; Mohammed Aliyu – Bauchi; Sefiya Mshela – Borno as well as Abubakar Musa from Borno State

Tony International Gymnastics, TIG has been a voice for Nigerian gymnastics on the international scene by consistently competing in International club championships in South Africa, Singapore, USA and Seychelles, winning medals in these events.

TIG through Coach Tony has etched Nigeria’s name and image in global sports and it will be a well-deserving and motivating gesture that he is accorded his due recognition by the Nigerian government along with other Nigerians tomorrow.

Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare on Monday presented the 10-year Football Masterplan to the Nigeria Women Football League Club Owners in his office at the Moshood Abiola Stadium Abuja.

Sunday while presenting the the Federal Government approved 10-year Football Masterplan to Club Owners, also appreciated their efforts for taking up the challenges that comes with running of football in Nigeria. He advocated for more private Club owners as it is obtainable in other developed countries.

“I want to thank the Chairperson of the NWFL Club Owners for taking up the challenges faced while in running football in Nigeria. I want to clamour for more private clubs. In other countries, private clubs get suport and thrive and we are working on clubs ro leverage on private funds.

There is something missing in Nigeria football and the government and Club Owners need to fix it if the game must develop.

The football Masterplan document is put together by experts who have the needed experience. It needs your support and of course everyone’s supports

Also speaking, the Chairperson of NWFL, Henrrienta Ehiabor thanked the Minister for putting together credible individuals that came up with the Ten-year Football Masterplan.

“The NWFL Club Owners thank the Minister of Sports for putting together credible individuals that put together the Ten-year Football Masterplan which touched and proffered all important aspects affecting Nigeria

Like they say, “how time flies!” It is already three years since Sunday Dare’s emergence as Nigeria’s Minister for Youth and Sports Development. Three years ago, the honourable Minister was saddled with the dual responsibility of taking care of the sports sector, just as the vigour of the youthful population.

In three years, Sunday Dare has led from the front, in facilitating sports development at all levels and catalyzing Nigeria to record-breaking feats in sports.

Just a number of weeks ago, Nigeria posted its best ever performance in the history of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Team Nigeria won 12 Gold, 9 Silver and 14 Bronze Medals. In the run up to the Games, Sunday Dare reiterated on numerous occasions the need for Nigerian athletes to compete and deliver podium performances and not just make up the numbers. This was achieved, as a scientific process was initiated by the minister to focus on sports where the country had comparative advantage.

Moreso, at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Nigeria broke a 13-year record with its Silver and Bronze Medal win, while also winning four Gold, one silver and seven Bronze medals at the Paralympic Games.

As part of the mechanism put in place to bring the best out of Nigerian athletes, the Minister initiated the Adopt-an-Athlete Programme, which has provided grants for over 45 athletes from corporate bodies and individuals. Athletes such as Oluwatobiloba Amusan, Ese Brume etc have benefitted from the initiative while the National Basketball teams enjoyed $5000,000 grants.

Another programme, this time, to rejuvenate sports infrastructures in the country is the Adopt-a-Facility initiative to rejuvenate and reinvigorate sports infrastructures in the country. This programme led to the revamping of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, which has now been approved by both FIFA and CAF. Since its reopening, the facility in has hosted the Senior National Men’s and Women’s Team (Super Eagles and Super Falcons), the Flying Eagles (U-20 Boys), Falconets (U-20 Girls), The Golden Eaglets (U-17 Boys), as well as The Flamingoes (U-17 Girls). Other facilities such as the National Stadium, Surulere, Daura Township Stadium, Liberty Stadium, Ibadan are also benefitting from the scheme.

The National Principal’s Cup has unearthed almost a generation of super stars for the country but it went into comatose for 25 years. Sunday Dare’s grassroots development drive led to the revival of the Principal’s Cup in 2021, encompassing different Sports for schools from all geo-political zones of the country.

Furthermore, in a bid to make sports lucrative and profitable, Sunday Dare pushed for the reclassification of sports as a business. This has been approved by the Federal Executive Council. The minister has continually refined Nigeria’s sporting balance, signing MoUs with Spain, Turkey, Portugal et al, to comparatively juxtapose Nigerian sports with the most refined on the international space.

The National Sports Festival, the National Youth Games, Talent Hunt Programmes are a few amongst many other programmes changing the narrative for Nigerian grassroots sports development, which has enjoyed unwaivering attention and support from the minister, as a result of his unbridled commitment for development.

Welfare of athletes has also remained a top priority for Sunday Dare, since the inception of his tenure. Through the Athletes’ Welfare Scheme, athletes renumeration for medal winners climbed to an unprecedented 300%.

Living no strand of doubt, it has been three years of a progressive trajectory for sports in the country. Football at the grassroot level has thrived in many ways with tangible successes recorded (the last of which were recorded at the WAFU B junior championships).
With even more reforms set to be finalized, one can only raise a thumb, perhaps two thumbs to a quintessential leader, who has laid down the gauntlet and has passionately pursued success in his sector. Cheers to more success, Nigeria.