Nigeria Delivers Plan To Accelerate African Sports Development

Nigeria Delivers Plan To Accelerate African Sports Development By Our Reporter The Federal Republic of Nigeria has proposed and delivered a unique sports development plan for the African continent tagged ‘Abuja Initiative'. This initiative will accelerate the drive for sports development on the continent of Africa by strengthening unity amongst African countries through the instrument of sports. It is a deliberate decision taken by the four Youth and Sports Ministers from Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria and Egypt, with the core agenda to drive sports development in Africa. Nigeria's Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare disclosed this at a press briefing to herald events marking the 40th anniversary of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) at its headquarters in Abuja. During the briefing, Sunday Dare along with his counterparts from Ghana, Algeria and Egypt explained to newsmen that the Youth and Sports Development Ministers deliberated extensively on ways and means of moving sports to the desired level of attaining socio-economic development for the growth of African countries, stressing "the Abuja initiative plan is a plan of action initiated not only to plug into ANOCA vision but also, to drive sports development in Africa". To this end, the Minister stated that a 16-man technical committee has been constituted by the four Ministers of Youth and Sports Development (Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria and Egypt) with the main objective of presenting an agenda to the meeting of Sports Ministers in Africa in Algiers, which is scheduled to hold in November this year. Dare also sensitized the media on the crucial goals set before the 16-man technical committee before the meeting slated to hold in Algiers in November. These include amongst, others proposing a taskforce comprising of IOC representative and a team of Youth and Sports Ministers that will drive African sports development, collectively focusing on youth and sports growth for socio-political development. He further emphasized the importance of collaboration and synergy of efforts amongst ANOCA, Association of African Sports Confederations(USCA) and Youth and Sports Development Ministers in Africa to achieve set goals for youth and sports development on the continent.