Senator John Enoh stepped into office as Nigeria's 36th Minister of Sports in August and the first thing that came to mind was how we could all support him to succeed.
One only needs to look at the dismal depths our sports has fallen over the years to appreciate the enormous task he faces to carry out a surgical operation in the sector in order to inject in some life.
I do not envy him. He comes in at a time so much needs to be done, and with little time to do them. Perhaps the biggest challenge he faces, apart from the job insecurity government appointees eternally grapple with, is the need to holistically appraise the sector with a view to fixing it on time for it to be result-oriented.
Coming into office at a time the country's athletes went to the World Athletics Championships in Budapest and came back with nothing may have been a coincidence. But it was a subtle reminder of how desperately the country needed a revival in it's sports policy vis a vis it's implementation in terms of funding, administration, sponsorship, grassroots development and the like.
I like the fact that the minister has said and done certain things to suggest that he knows exactly what the job is about.
I do not doubt that he has the capacity to deliver on account of his pedigree as an astute manager of men and resources.
Enoh does not need to be reminded that he now has the opportunity to use his vast experience garnered from years of corporate involvement to improve the lot of sports in Nigeria.
Immediately on the front burner is the African Cup of Nations, a biennial football tournament which is easily the continent's biggest in terms of popularity, and viewership across the globe.
Nigeria is regarded as a powerhouse of football in Africa, having won the title on three occasions in the past. That he will be superintendenting over this particular edition to hold in Cote D'Ivoire early next year should mean a lot to the minister.
The same shirt of attention also needs to be paid the preparation for the Olympics scheduled to hold in Paris, France next year.
All eyes will be on Nigeria to at least break the hoodoo of not winning a gold medal in any sport since the centennial edition held in Atlanta 1996.
He also needs to confront persistent internal wranglings in some sports federations and find a way to ensure harmony within these bodies for the common good of our sports. In this, he will have to look at the statutes that regulate these federations with a view to plugging loopholes administrators exploit to perpetuate themselves in office.
I commend him for wanting an enlarged representation in the NFF Congress. Such revolution, if implemented, has the potential of impacting positively on the fortunes of football in Nigeria.
I cannot touch all the issues in a single presentation. I promise to be expatiating more on the issues in subsequent submissions on this page.
Suffice it to say, however, that the duty of turning around the fortunes of our sports does not rest only with the minister. All hands must be on deck. All stakeholders -- everyone who makes a living from the country's sports industry -- must all close ranks to develop it and make it attractive for participants, administrators, the media and those who earn a living through it.
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