As my colleague Mizambilu Dalha Yola rightly puts it, the visit of the new Commissioner of Youth and Sports, Hon. Mustapha Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso to all the sports facilities in Kano State marks the beginning of a new era in sports development in the state.
I quite agreed with him because barely hours after his swearing-in along with three other commissioners by His Excellency Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf, the newly appointed commissioner of Youth and Sports Development embarked on a familiarization visit to all key sports facilities of the state.
The purpose of the visit according to one of his close aides was to give him an insight and full knowledge about the realities and the true position of all the sporting facilities in the state.
Except for those outside the metropolis, Hon. Mustapha Rabi’u Kwankwaso was said to have visited nearly all the sporting facilities of the state to see for himself their situation and next line of action.
According to reports, the commissioner was accompanied to the sites he visited by the who is who in Kano state sports among which were Ambassador Yusuf Imam Ogan Boye, SA Youth and Sports matters, Alhaji Rabi’u Abdullahi Kawo, the Chairman of the Kano Pillars Fans Club, and Malam Bala Sani Shehu, the acting chairman of the State Sports Commission and many others.
Looking at the tasks before the eldest son of the Kwankwasiyya movement in Nigeria, it is obvious that Mustapha Rabiu Kwankwaso is leading a big, powerful and demanding ministry.
This is because the Ministry of Youth and Sport Development is responsible for youths and Sports affairs with the vision “to empower Kano state youths to become self-reliant and socially responsible.
The ministry is also responsible for focusing on enterprise development, vocational skills & training, youth voice, employment, and education.
The ministry is accountable for youth policy, youth development programmes, funding youth activities, youth participation etc.
The mandate of the Ministry of Youth and Sport Development anywhere in the country is “Formulation, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation of Policies and Programmes on Youths and Sports Development towards Wealth Creation, Youth Empowerment, Physical Fitness and Well-being, Achieving Excellence in Sports, National Unity and Sustainable Development”.
From the above, one may conclude that the new commissioner is vested with a huge and lofty responsibility.
But from the way he started by first paying visits to Sani Abacha Stadium at the Kofar Mata, then Kano Pillars Stadium in Sabon Gari, Ado Bayero Square in Sabon Gari and finally Mahaha Sports Complex at Kofar Na’isa, one will conclude that the new commissioner is equal to the tasks before him and will certainly triumph.
And I am happy that at the end of his visit, commissioner Kwankwaso expressed his commitment to enhancing the facilities and developing all sports that the youth in Kano state engage in in the state.
He emphasized on the importance of providing top-notch facilities for athletes to improve their skills and promote sports development in the state.
Commissioner Mustapha Kwankwaso also outlined several initiatives that will be implemented under his leadership which includes the following:
Number one among them is to upgrade and maintain all the existing sports fields to international standards.
He also has in his agenda the introduction of new training programs and infrastructure to nurture young talents and also promote a culture of sportsmanship and healthy competition among the youth in Kano State.
I honestly and sincerely agreed that the new commissioner of Youth and Sports Development, Hon Mustapha Kwankwaso has an agenda for sports in the state which I hope the people in the ministry and Sports Commission must assist him to deliver.
I am happy from day one he was in the field to see for himself the true position of things in the state. I was told he had a meeting with the management, officials and players of Kano Pillars Football Club.
At the meeting he was told all the problems Kano Pillars is facing which seriously impedes or resulted in its performance decline in the on-going league.
I was told that he was adequately briefed about the chairman/management crisis within the board of Kano Pillars which also affected the team seriously.
But I was not sure if those in charge had the courage to openly inform the new commissioner about the huge debt the team is presently swimming in.
I was also told that the new commissioner had visited some stakeholders with the view of seeking their unalloyed support so that they will be on the commissioner’s transformation train to revolutionized sports in Kano.
I am sure the commissioner saw for himself the dilapidated Sani Abacha Stadium and that of its Kano Pillars counterpart.
The artificial turfs of the two facilities provided some decades ago are expired, old fashioned and needed urgent replacement.
I called the two turfs old fashioned because there is no place in the whole world where it is being used. Its multiple disadvantages were the main reasons why its usage has been discouraged worldwide.
The likes of Gwagwarwa stadium too needs to be upgraded and be provided in various or every corners of the state.
The Wudil sports center which was built and handed over to the state by the federal government years ago needs to be adequately taken care of and even put to use.
The neglected Dawakin Kudu stadium too which was also built by former member of the House of Reps as a constituency project needs to be put to use too. It can host all zonal or inter-zonal competitions.
The Ado Bayero Square too needs total renovation as the Tomato market located by its side had deface the square’s initial look.
The commissioner needs to establish Sports Centers just like that of Ado Bayero Square in all the three senatorial zones and equip them with sporting equipment especially local government areas.
I see this as a simple way of taking sports to our rural areas because it will have exposed our people in rural areas to sports presently dominated by people from other states of the federation.
The new commissioner needs to know that sports in Kano is more in the city than in the rural areas and this is not a good omen to its development in the state.
Once some facilities are provided and technical people drafted in those areas to man and train the local populace of the area, I am sure within short possible time things can change.
As at present I doubt if there is any player or athlete contributing or participating in any team or sports who is from outside the eight metropolitan local government areas. This is sad.
Another thing that will seriously and easily develop sports in the state is the appointment of genuine sports technocrats and educationists to head Kano State Sports Commission.
I am sure if the Hon commissioner opens his eyes widely or makes good consultations, he will rightly hand pick those that can lead the commission and realize or actualize his dream for sports in Kano state.
As I said it before in my previous write-ups, we have many capable hands within and outside academia in this state that if given the chance to do the job can do it even perfectly.
The commissioner needs to know that the position of the Executive Chairman and Members of the Kano State Sports Commission are no go areas for people who are novice or unknowledgeable about sports. They are exclusively for those that are highly knowledgeable in sports.
So most of us expect people who understand sports, its antics, its politics and its administration to be given the opportunity to serve in the commission. This is because an agency of this magnitude is for professionals and not for everybody because it is results oriented.
It may interest the new commissioner that Kano State Sports Commission which was hitherto Kano State Sports Council was created some years ago with the aim of developing and transforming sports throughout the state.
The commission was created specifically and shouldered with several responsibilities which includes massive and steady participation of the state in all forms of sports in the country, encouraging amateurs’ games and improving their performance all through.
The commission is also expected to organize and hold matches, competition or contests, between amateurs for the physical well-being of the people of the state by frequently establishing and maintaining sporting centers for the training of individuals and instructors or organizers of any form of sports. It is also to facilitate and supports sports development at the grassroots levels and assisting in the improvement of standard of performance in all forms of sports;
The commission is also vested with the powers to appoint or dismiss any chairman and members of any Sports Associations that are found wanting.
It can also assist financially and otherwise any sports organization, clubs, schools’ sports and associations or other bodies for the purpose of encouraging the participation in all forms of sports among others.
The new commissioner needs to know that the successes and achievements of Kano State Sports Commission since creation to date are minimal and hardly seen due to so many obvious reasons which may not be unconnected with the way and manner the previous administration cash-stave the commission and failed to deploy necessary man power to the commission to enables it to functions as expected.
It was on record that on many occasions, some national and international events which the state needed to be present and participated in were turned down due to lack of funds or failure to release the funds in good times.
The commission’s failure to organize many sporting events like Inter-Primary Games or Inter-Schools Sports for both senior and junior secondary schools and Mini-State Sports Festival were its greatest undoing because it is through which sports men and women are massively discovered or produced.
Therefore, for the commission now to function as expected and provide a desired result, he must hand the commission over to the right set of people. But few politicians can be added to serve as government representatives in the commission.
More so, if the government wants to develop sports in the state, it is through the commission that it can do so, which can only be achieved through the appointment of people of integrity, who are highly knowledgeable and highly experienced in sports administration, those who know sports and its politics in the country to run the commission.
For sure, the government is aware about the contributions of youth at the last polls. Therefore, sports if developed can change the lives of many of them as sports is now a job provider which can make most of them earn a living. As many people who are into sports are now millionaires.
From the above, I am happy to inform Hon. Mustapha Kwankwaso that, Kano state is blessed with the caliber of people needed to run the commission effectively and produce good results.
Places like tertiary institutions and our immediate society are my reference point as the people needed to run the commission are plentiful there.
In academia for instance, there are capable hands. In Bayero University, Kano, we have some Kano state’s indigenes from Physical and Health Education who have gone places in sports academically as most of them are now professors in sports and still in the sports arena of their university and the country as a whole.
They are always or periodically assigned or consulted by some individuals or bodies that are interested in sports development, national sporting associations or the federal ministry of sports in sports related matters.
Many of them went out of the country for World Universities Games (NUGA) and other sports. As of now, one of them is the current head of the sports directorate of Bayero University, Kano.
In Saadatu Rimi University of Education and Federal College of Education Kano too, we have academicians serving as lecturers in the Physical and Health Education Department who can equally serve in the commission.
Outside the academic circle, we have someone who we called or referred to as the Dictionary and Encyclopedia of sports in the state. He has his Phd in Sports Management from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
The man in question retired from service as a Director of Sports under Kano State Sports Commission in 2022. He even served as the chairman of the Forum of Directors of Sports in the country before he left office.
Another individual who can fit to serve in the commission is the one who the government have recently appointed as the secretary of Kano Pillars FC interim Management Committee.
This particular person was a sports officer in the Kano State Polytechnic before his retirement and he is about to finish his PhD in Sports Management in the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He too can be part of the team to run the sports commission because he too is an authority in the field.
I am sure if consulted all I mentioned can serve and contribute to sports development in the state because it is their area of specialization for a long period of time. They know in and out of sports and its politics in the country.
To me, if commissioner Kwankwaso can identify these people, put them together and add a few hands from Kwankwasiyya end, the state will, in a few months coming, see sports transformation.
All the commissioner needs to do is to search and locate them so that all his plans towards sports development in Kano state can be achieved.
Allah yasa an fara a saa, ameen.
