Nigeria’s Future Is In Traditional Sports, Says Ex NATS Chief, Adeogun

IKPO IGBINOBA

One of the pioneers and influential personalities in traditional sports has declared that Nigeria’s future is in the sector.

Consequently, he has appealed to governments at different levels and the private sector to invest in indigenous sports.

Mr. Sunday Adeogun, a former Technical Director of the National Association of Traditional Sports(NATS) now Traditional Sports Federation (TSF) made the plea in an exclusive chat with the PM Express. According to him, Nigeria stands to reap bountifully from traditional sports if governments at different levels and the private sector invest in them.

He explained “The English invented football and exported it to the rest of the world. 

“Today, football is a huge industry, employing several millions of people not just in England but across the world”.

“The Egyptians invented swimming but today, swimming is a global sport and it also has a flourishing multi-billion dollar industry built around it”.

“The same goes for wrestling which the Greeks invented. Wrestling today has become a global brand”.

Football, swimming and wrestling, in the beginning, were traditional sports in their homes of origin. 

Nigeria, he stressed is blessed with a range of sports that are indigenous to the country like Abula, Ayo, Damba,  Langa and many others.

“But due to inadequate support by government and the private sector”, Mr. Adeogun lamented, “these indigenous sports were not nurtured to grow in tandem with the dreams of the founding fathers.

“When we came up with the traditional sports project in Nigeria, our dream was to nurture them and, export them, make them global brands, create a huge industry around them and have them in the Olympics”.

“The chairman of the National Sports Commission then Chief Alex Akinyele shared in our dream and that was why he inaugurated the National Association of Traditional Sports(NATS) in 1993”.

Mr Adeogun said with the right investment, traditional sports will not only turn Nigeria into a tourist destination but an economic hub because millions of jobs would be created around them.

“Traditional Sports if supported by all will heal the country’s ailing economy”, Mr. Adeogun who is the Head of Sports Competition Unit in the Lagos State Sports Commission and author of Basic And Techniques of Traditional Sports in Nigeria and Modern  Comprehensive Book in Nigeria said.