The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, on Wednesday, announced moves to establish a National Sports Academy to harness the sporting talents of young Nigerians across the country.

He disclosed this in Abuja during the distribution of sports equipment to Principal Officers and members of the House Committee on Sports for onward delivery to their various constituents.

He called for a return to grassroots sports development as a strategic pathway to restoring Nigeria’s lost glory in international sporting events.

He said, “I have put in the budget a proposal to build a National Sports Academy with all outdoor and indoor games for children of secondary school age, identified through grassroots competitions. They will be admitted to continue their sports development.

“I believe that at the end of the day, this initiative will bring a lot of international stars that Nigeria will be proud of.”

He noted that “The time has come to do this, given the dwindling fortune of Nigeria in the sport sector, particularly in the last appearances at the Olympic sports, where we came back without a medal.

“It is unacceptable for a country of over 200m people to go for competitions and come back without a medal.

“At the last Olympics, Saint Lucia, with a population of less than 100,000 people, won a gold medal, but Nigeria, with over 200m people, came back with nothing. This is unacceptable.”

Tajudeen said one way to regain Nigeria’s glory is to discontinue the current system where athletes are picked based on who they know and return to grassroots competitions.

Also speaking, the Chairman, House Committee on Sports, Kabiru Amadu, commended the Federal Government and the leadership of the National Assembly for the 288 per cent increase in the sports sector budget from ?29 billion in 2024 to ?113bn in 2025.

“Our goal is to build a sustainable sports ecosystem starting at the grassroots where champions are discovered, talents nurtured, and characters built.

“Investing in grassroots sports means investing in the dreams of our young people; sports have the power to transform lives, but for too long, focus has been on elite athletes. Today, we begin to change that narrative.

“These items are not just physical equipment; they are symbols of opportunity, empowerment, and national progress,” he said.

On his part, the Chairman, National Sports Commission, Mr Shehu Dikko, emphasised the need to change Nigeria’s sports orientation from being competition-driven to development-driven.

“The final outcome we expect is to make sports the driver of the economy, to create two to three million jobs annually and earn foreign exchange; we want to make sports an international asset that will bring social life together and make the country proud,” he said.

The NSC boss added that a bill that will restructure the entire sports ecosystem in the country was on its way to the Green Chamber, stressing that the proposed legislation seeks to create all the necessary agencies and development funds to run sports in the country.

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