Enoh lauds sports performance grants for athletes, coaches

Senator John Owan Enoh

Sports Development Minister, Senator John Owan Enoh, has described the Sports Performance Reward Fund (SPRF) as a well-packaged project worthy of commendation.

According to the minister, SPRF, which is meant to reward excellent performances at international competitions, would motivate athletes and their coaches to work harder, knowing that they would be rewarded for every honour they bring to Nigeria.

Speaking when the SPRF board of trustees paid him a courtesy call in his office at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja, at the weekend, the minister said the SPRF “will fill a major vacuum – the nexus between performance, incentives and rewards – that has dogged Nigeria’s sports for years,” adding, “the growth of the sports sector will thrive much better in the hands of the private sector.

“The feel and nudge I am getting from the Presidency is to get the private sector to invest more in sports and to take the front seat in driving the growth of sports in Nigeria – essentially, to put sports in the hands of the private sector and if there is one group that I need to court and work with, that body is the SPRF. You will have the full support of the government.

“I am very impressed by the standing of persons who have come together to form this body, one of them, Mrs Ifueko Omogui-Okauru, who is the Vice President Finance of the SPRF, I had worked with when I was chairman of the finance committee of Senate.

“These are people who will not have anything to do with any organisation except the transparency threshold is topnotch and the processes that will ensure its sustainability are firmly in place.

“I have no doubt that the rewards in place will fire and motivate Nigeria’s sporting youth to excel in competitions at