Sports Minister And Nigeria Media: The Uncommon Relatiionship

Sports Minister And Nigeria Media: The Uncommon Relatiionship

By Our Reporter

The Nigeria sports minister Sunday Dare understands the importance of the media in Nation's building. Dare, who himself was and is still a journalist has always emphasized the need for an open door policy, no wonder, most of his official activities, both local and international are open to the media. 

The Media on their part have leveraged on this relationship with the sports minister and his ever reliable media aides to get news stories direct from the horse's mouth. 

In the last three years or more, since assuming office as Nigeria sports minister, Dare has enjoyed positive media publicity from the Nigeria sporting media. He has appeared on live shows on several National and private television stations, more than any other serving minister of the federal republic and has used the platform to dish out vital information to the sporting audience and the public at large. 

As minister of youth and sports development, Dare though the National youth investment fund (NYIF) is also helping hardworking sports journalists, especially video analysts and cameramen to up their game by assisting them with soft loans that will go a long way to improve their brand and uplift their business. 

He is not stopping there, he has also made sure that the sporting media is given international sporting exposure by taking at least ten media men as part of the ministry's traveling contingent to international sporting competitions in the last 3years.. 

Over twenty Nigeria sports journalists were sponsored to the National sports festival in Benin, the Edo state Capital, same goes for the World Athletics championship (Kenya 2021) which had five Nigeria sports journalists in attendance. 

The 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo and the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon was littered with sports journalist as over fifteen media men and women attended both events on the bill of the Sports ministry. 

For the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham England, another set of vibrant Sports journalist from the various states of the federation have already secured entry visas, looking set to arrive London for the games. 

Never in history, has the media and the Sports ministry enjoyed a cordial working relationship as is the case today. Let's hope that other government parastatals will learn from this examples to improve their productivity.