The country’s ex-football stars, including former sports administrators, made this known in separate interviews with Newsmen on Thursday in Lagos.
They said the President stood tall in his sports policies by rewarding Nigeria’s silver-winning team at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) with gifts and national honours.
According to Elias Gora, a retired Sports Administrator, Tinubu’s administration has given more attention to sports development in his first year anniversary in the office.
Gora told Newsmen that there were no doubts that the present administration had been encouraging sportsmen and women to ensure a podium finish in the last 12 months.
“In all honesty, this administration has done a lot to encourage sporting events and activities since inception.
“No wonder we nearly emerge the African champions in the last AFCON tournament.
“The president encouraged the team, though we came second, he went ahead and gave them national honours, this is fantastic,’’ Gora said.
He also expressed the expectation that the Federal Government to ensure that Team Nigeria in the Paris 2024 Olympics and Nigeria’s representatives in sports meet globally did not lag behind.
Similarly, Ike Shorunmu, a former Super Eagles’ Goalkeeper also commended Tinubu’s administration for honouring of Super Eagle’s team after the AFCON tourney in Cote D’Ivoire.
Shorunmu said that such development was encouraging enough to boost the morale of the footballers and other athletes who represented or hope to represent Nigeria in their respective sports.
“President Tinubu’s administration has done well in the sport sector at least by giving the national team their bonuses and allowances.
“He has invested not only in the football but also in the general sports sector in the country.
“Majority of the athletes who were engaged in national assignment were given their dues and bonuses and that really serve as encouragement.
“The president’s gesture will ginger them to perform well whenever they are called to serve their country,’’ he said.
Shorunmu, who is also former Super Eagles Goalkeeper Coach, said that the sports sector has brought a lot of people out of poverty in Nigeria.
“We encourage the government to put more effort in promoting grassroots sports to discover the hidden talents in various communities for better performance that will showcase them to the world.
“We want the government to create more opportunities for the teaming youths to showcase their talents for better performance.
“Grassroots sports should be encouraged and promoted to catch them young at their local level for better opportunities globally,’’ he added.
Fanny Amun, a former football player and Coach, also commended President Bola Tinubu’s scorecard in sports on his first anniversary.
For him, President Tinubu had performed better than his predecessor in office in regards to sports development.
According to Amun, the present administration has given more encouragement to the sportsmen and women in the country.
“Though the past government had done the best they can do, the present administration has done better to bring out the best in our athletes and football players.
“Tinubu has done so well; before AFCON, our team were almost at zero level. But look their performance during the AFCON tournament, we almost emerged the African champion.
“At the same time, our athletes also performed well at the just-concluded 13th African Games in Ghana where we came second on the medals’ table,’’ he said.
At the conclusion of the 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana, Team Nigeria finished second on the medals table with 121 medals behind Egypt.
The former national team player also said that the level of friction had significantly reduced in the sports sector within the last one year of the Tinubu’s administration.
“Unlike in the past when the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will have one or two things to battle with, leading to loss of confidence in them, now everywhere is calm,’’ Amun said.
He also appealed to government to keep on encouraging Nigerian athletes and footballers to perform better in their various sports.
“We have all seen what happened after AFCON where President Tinubu awarded the Super Eagles players with national honours.
“He should extend more encouragement and attention to the athletes in other sports.
“Sports, including basketball, volleyball, swimming, Amputees and others, should be encouraged for the athletes to have a sense of belonging especially as the Olympics is around the corner,’’ he said.
Another sports enthusiast and Ex-Super Eagles International, Bright Omakaro, urged the federal government to do more on sports development.
He also urged the Tinubu administration to be more proactive in the camping and training of athletes ahead of international tourneys.
Omokaro told Newsmen that delays in the training of our national athletes and footballers had been affecting their performances in sports competitions globally.
He said, “I have not been encouraged in how we handle sports in this country compared to other countries where they prepared perfectly before tournaments.
“Government’s approach in preparing athletes for tournaments needs to be improved; enough time must be given to prepare them for the tournaments.
“We need to go back to the drawing board and reinforce our team ahead of the World Cup, the next AFCON and all African Games. Enough of fire brigade method at the end of the day.’’
The former footballer also appealed to the government to always put a round peg in a round hole in the sporting sector.
According to him, sports should not be politicised so that it will not affect participants’ performances.
“Knowledgeable people must be given the opportunity to develop and partake in decision making on sports for more and better development of the sector.
