In the book of Ecclesiastics, chapter 10 and verse 10, the Holy Bible says that wisdom is profitable to direct. The key word there is “direct”, which connotes ‘to proceed to suc-

cess.
An African Proverb also says that ‘What an elder sees sitting down, a child will not see it even if he stands on an Iroko tree”. To succeed therefore in whatever we do, both young and old, we need to apply wisdom.
However, majority of those who are our leaders today are elders who should have wisdom and can see far, even in a sitting position, what to do to make every sector of Nigeria thrive.

My worry today is that over the years, our leaders have been paying lip service to the unity of our country which is divided majorly along religious and ethnic lines.

Government officials are quick to say that sports, especially football, is the single factor that unifies us as a people. When our national football teams or any national sports team is competing, at that moment, we forget tribe and religion and unite to support them to achieve success.

That is the more reason every effort should be made to ensure the sports sector is developed, not only to provide livelihood for our teeming youths, that are always eulogised as the leaders of tomorrow but particularly to unite us.

It was therefore a mockery when President Bola Tinubu re- cently changed the ‘Arise O’ Compatriots’ National Anthem to the old ‘Nigeria We Hail thee’ one foisted on us by the British. His reason was simply the line, ‘though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand ‘ in it.

Despite knowing the power of sports, past and present govern- ments have continued to pay lip service to its development.

This brings me to the issue of Sports Development Fund which was created by the federal government that has always drummed into our ears that government alone cannot fund sports.

Wemusthavecopiedthisideafrom Britainwhichcreateda National Lottery Fund from which it funds its major sports programmes.

It is reported that UK Sport invested over £40m of National Lottery funding in support of a £150m programme to host major international sporting events in the UK from 2013-2023.

It is on record that in April 2014, former President Goodluck Jonathan endorsed that proceeds from the National Lottery Trust Fund should be used for grassroots sports development in primary schools, as the nursery for budding talents in various sports. This was expected to help in cultivating young athletes for future Olympic participation and enhancing sports at the grassroots level.

But how have we monitored this Lottery Trust Fund? Once in a while we hear that a few equipment have been bought for some primary schools in the country.

It was once reported that the National Sports Lottery Fund donated exercise books to a handful of primary schools in some states. And you ask if that was part of why the Sports Lottery Fund was set up.

Agreed that areas of its intervention apart from sport included health. education, water and sanitation, environment, relief and disaster management, purchase of exercise books is not

the most pressing needs of primary schools in Nigeria. Officials of the National Lottery Fund sit on a very huge money which we hardly hear they spend on the areas listed above. And nobody looks into the running of the organization or calls

them to account for the money raised.
We have heard about Team Nigeria athletes protesting at competitions over unpaid allowances and bonuses thereby causing the country international embarrassment.

We still remember how members of the national senior women basketball team, D’Tigress protested at the Tokyo Olympics as well as the earlier embarrassment caused by the Super Fal- cons’ protest in 2004 in South Africa over owed camp allow- ances and bonuses.

What about the situation at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil when then Sports Minister, Dr Tammy Danagogo had to per- sonally carry loads of forex to pay the Super Eagles players who refused to turn up for a training session before a match.

Have we also forgotten the situation when our U-23 team were stranded in Atlanta and an American airline had to res- cue the team by flying them free to Brazil early enough to catch their first match against Japan at the 2016 Olympics in the same Brazil because the sports ministry couldn’t raise money for their flight?

The cry by government that it cannot fund sports alone and frequent excuses for lack of money or its shortage for sports development is the reason why the idea of a National Lottery Trust Fund is laudable but it should be monitored for it to achieve its set goals .

This is the reason the piece of news from Enugu State where the governor Mr. Peter Mbah signed into law a bill for the setting up of the Enugu State Sports Development Fund should gladden the hearts of sports loving Enugu citizens and Nigeri- ans at large.

Governor Mbah rightly said that the Enugu State Sports De- velopment Fund Law would help the state to build its capacity, nurture grassroots talents, promote school sports and develop the sports sector.

Gov Mbah is not thinking of using sports as a unifying factor for citizens only but also an instrument for economic power which Nigeria desires so desperately at the moment.

“We consider sports more than just a kind of recreation, but as a veritable means through which we can stimulate economic growth,” he stated.

That is the wisdom we need from our leaders both at State and National levels so that our Sports sector and every other sector can blossom.