On April 30, 2021, Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, announced by fiat the dissolution of all sporting federations in the country. And since then, peace had been elusive in that sector.

As nature itself abhors vacuum in administration, Dare went ahead to set up caretaker committees to oversee the activities of these federations before fresh elections could take place.

This step taken by the head of sports ministry in the country has elicited a litany of reactions that led to curious Nigerians asking some pertinent questions: Did the minister make due consultations before taking this unpopular decision?

Did the minister take the time to study the constitution of the Federations before wielding the big stick? Was the minister mindful of the fact that the Olympic Games is close by before delivering the sledgehammer?

These are questions that only the minister of sports can answer. Although the minister’s defence for his action was premised on the fact that the tenure of these federations had lapsed and there had not been any serious preparations towards fresh elections, we believe that there should have been more plausible reasons to take before this far-reaching decision.

The minister’s reasons may look good on paper, but they may not be convincing enough to have warranted the dissolution. Meanwhile, taking a critical look at the minister’s action, some pundits have adduced some reasons why the minister erred:

Minister dissolves 31 boards of sports federations

One, the last board elections were conducted June 13, 2017 for a four-year tenure, which supposed to expire on July 10, 2021. Why was the minister in a hurry to dissolve the federations on April 30, 2021?
Two, it is unconstitutional to have replaced duly and democratically-elected sports federations with caretaker committees.

Three, the technical directors who oversee the training of athletes had also been dissolved, so, who will be responsible for the training of these athletes?

Four, the minister’s predecessor, Solomon Dualong, had alluded to the fact that every federation had held its congress, produced its constitution, and deposited them with the ministry. If this true, then what is the rationale behind the dissolution? This is an indication that the respective federations were getting ready for their elections.

Five, the minister ought to know better that the international bodies of these federations will not recognise the caretaker committees put in place by him. And this might lead to the suspension of these federations by their respective international bodies.

Already, the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation had been suspended by its International Federation for what they termed as government interference in the federation.

As it is, the national rugby team, the Black Stallions, will not participate in next month’s Rugby World Cup pre-qualifiers in Burkina Faso. It is obvious that other international federations will follow suit in the days ahead.

Six, the action is enough to destabilise the athletes preparing for the Olympic Games because it shows that something is wrong with the system.

Seven, the minister should also know that all the athletes going to the Olympic Games are the babies of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will not deal with the ministry of sports at the Games. And by extension, the IOC can never, and will never deal, with any caretaker committees as regards all Olympic-bound federations.

It is the NOC that will take custodian of all Nigerian athletes in Japan while working with the various heads of the Olympic-bound federations to get vital information.

However, the antagonists of the minister’s action have argued that the dissolution was done in bad faith to ostensibly deal with the minister’s “perceived enemies” in some targeted federations.

Others, however, are of the view that the sacking of the boards before the Olympic Games would give the ministry of sports the opportunity to have total control of funds due to these Olympic bound federations.
It is sad that this situation may degenerate into another bigger crisis as some of the affected federations have threatened to go to court if the minister still maintains his stand.

ThisNigeria views this with all sense of responsibility that this brewing quagmire could be avoided if there is sincerity of purpose in whatever we are doing as a people.

We call for restraint in whatever is tantamount to bringing commotion to Sports – the only factor unifying Nigeria – to the bridge of disintegration today.

Nigerians are sick and tired of hearing the news of ‘war’. We should allow a sense of real patriotism to prevail in this circumstance.
Reconsider the order sir.