‘Sports In Nigeria, Going Round In Circles will address the country’s sports ills’

The book, Sports In Nigeria, Going Round In Circles

Former national tennis star, Godwin Kienka, believes his new book, Sports In Nigeria, Going Round In Circles, will address problems hampering the country’s growth in the sector.

For years, the country has been searching for solutions to the underdevelopment of the sports sector, with successive administrations setting up committees to find answers to the numerous problems hindering the country’s growth in sports.

In 2016, then Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, named Kienka as chairman of a ministerial reform committee to “restructure and reposition Nigeria’s sports from a service-oriented model to a private sector developmental-oriented one.” Although the Kienka committee completed its work and submitted its findings, it was, like many others before it, not followed through to effect the changes expected to drive Nigeria’s sports development.

Speaking while unveiling Sports In Nigeria, Going Round In Circles, in Lagos, Kienka, who disclosed that the book’s launch would be accompanied by an endowment fund to reward athletes for outstanding performance, said the work has solutions to the various ailments affecting the sports sector.

“As a reporter with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), I had the opportunity to attend international events, not just in tennis, but also in athletics, basketball and other sports. As I went on to cover grand slams, I saw the effort parents, countries and companies were putting into producing young stars, not just for the fame or for the glory of the country, but for changing lives and the financial opportunity that is available in sports for these children.

“Parents sold houses and moved locations just so their children will have opportunities