How Partnerships Can Develop Sports And Athletes In Nigeria

KOLAWODE MOSES OLUSEGUN

A partnership is defined as a voluntary agreement between two or more organisations to work cooperatively toward a set of shared outcomes.

The partnership emphasises the basic collaborative tenet of partnership
working and developing the social relationships needed to achieve
desired goals.

It is also highlighted that collaboration can refer to both the process of
working together to establish a partnership and the process of achieving
partnership outcomes.

The role that partnership plays in sports and athletes in Nigeria
and the world entirely cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, it is
pertinent to involve and encourage public, the private partnership in sport because government alone cannot do it all when it comes to sport
and athletes development.

In Nigeria today, sport and athletes development is being taken
care by both the private and public sectors thereby making it easy for
athletes mass participation in sport. We have many examples when it
comes to partnership in sport in Nigeria such as Lagos international
marathon, Lagos Women run, Maltina Athletes School Sports
competition, and many other competitions sponsored with the
collaboration of both private and government sectors.

Recently, the para-athletics association of Lagos state collaborated
with Lagos State Sports Commission by organizing a southwest
para-athletics competition in which some private sector were involved in
sponsoring the program. All the athletes that participated in the
competition from the different states are the beneficiaries of this partnership.

Athletes will be deprived of mass participation in a sport if we
discourage the private sector from sponsoring sports activities.

Today, sport is a big business in which the private sector is fully engaged.
There are four key elements that help build positive partnerships;

1. Transparency- sharing of information in a timely manner is critical
   to building solid relationships.
2. Collaboration – building relationships is a skill and it takes a
   collaborative spirit to facilitate growth.
3. Communication- for a partnership to flourish, the parties must be
   able to talk freely about their collective vision and what next steps
   need to be taken for success.
4. Recognition – each party must put the efforts of the other side in
   front of their side in front of their own. Give the credit to your
   partners and the team when things go well, take the heat when
   things go poorly.
   Factors that influence a partnership
    Time scale
    Type of partner
    Scale
    power
   Benefits of partnership to sports and athletes
    Better problem analysis
    Accessing resources
    Contacts
    Pooling of resources
    Closer engagement with public
    Improved effectiveness and efficiency

Kolawole Moses Olusegun, the Director of Sport Development in the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC) presented this paper during the Press Conference of the Nigeria American Football Association, NAFA, at the New Hall College, Lekki, Lagos on Monday, 22 November 2021