IMO STATE PUBLIC ENLIGHTENMENT: SPORTS "Heartland was on a ban from FIFA but His Excellency, Governor Uzodimma paid off the fine running to the tune of $56,000 United States Dollars"~Commissioner for Sports

Interaction between the Commissioner for Sports, Hon. Dan Ogu with Special Adviser, Public Enlightenment Prince Eze Ugochukwu

Question Congratulations on your away win yesterday. The Heartland Football club keep going from strength to strength. What is the secret, what is it that the government and your ministry has done to optimize the performance of Heartland FC because we know such performance doesn't just come easy?

Answer: First and foremost, I have to thank our Governor, Dist. Sen. Hope Uzodimma for his youth friendly approach on issues of sports and social development. When we came in, we met a system in shambles with old arrears piled up and with zero motivation for the players and entire team. 

Immediately, His Excellency, cleared the arrears, dissolved the management, released funds for new and talented players. Before now, Heartland was on a ban from FIFA but His Excellency paid off the fine running to the tune of $56,000. Secondly, the apartment where they were staying which for a long time hasn't been paid for even by the previous administration, he also paid for; got them new buses for the sake of comfort and privided a new camping lodge for them.

Moving forward, we started paying them match bonuses and adequate welfare.  On many occasions, we also promised them loads of motivation which has gone a long way. 

Question: Imo State won 49 medals in the just concluded National Sports Festival in Benin. Looking at our recent sports history, was that outing outstanding? Did we add laurels to the medal list we use to have  previously?

Answer:  Yes. About 8 years ago, the performance wasn't up to this level. We would have done better than we did, however a lot of incidents slowed us down such as the Covid19, Endsars and the likes. As a matter of fact they only camped for a few days of intensive training. In all these, we still thank His Excellency for making funds available for us. The governor saw to it that all we needed to be in good spirit were provided and achieved. Apart from this, we rejiged the management team for optimal performance and made sure the athlets got their bonuses.

I made a promise to his Excellency that we will do amazingly well or else he should sack me. Owing to this, I had to put in my best. Apart from this, we stormed Benin city with more than 14 buses which raised the morale of the players and the prestige of the state. 

Throughout the tournament, I promised any good medalist the sum of N50,000 and it served as a motivation towards making them go for gold, which we got.

Question: Apart from the main arena at Dan Anyiam Stadium, what other renovation works are going on in the complex. 

Answer:  Serious work is ongoing at the indoor facility at Dan Anyiam Stadium. His Excellency will soon commission the place. Currently we have secured  equipments for our ultra modern indoor gym, and as I'm talking to you, work at the indoor arena has reach 70%  completion. Recently, His Excellency awarded the contract for the construction of an olympic size swimming pool. With this, we can now host national competitions and tournaments come 2022. 

Question: We read about the under 17 volleyball competition going on. Do we have a standard volleyball pitch at Dan Anyiam Stadium, and this under 17, are they from the Local Governments in Imo state.

Answer: Yes. It is like a talent hunt that cut across all the local governments. We are using the tournament to identify talents in our dear state. Apart from Dan Anyiam Stadium, His Excellency has promised to renovate our stadias especially the Orlu Township Stadium and Okigwe Stadium. Once this is done, we will have less traffic at Dan Anyiam Stadium and it will be used for highly important activities.

Question: What is the level of private sector participation in sports in Imo State. Are you thinking of having a sports round table, since the government cannot do it alone in terms of sponsorship.

Answer: First and foremost, we want to get Heartland and other sporting activities to certain standards so that the private sector can proudly partner with us. Our people should also know that sports is business and not just leisure. We have it in our agenda to partner with the private sector and also take sports to the next level in Imo State. For instance, whenever Heartland plays, we normally have an upsurge of crowd. This speaks alot. The idea of a sports summit or roundtable is very worthy and the government will explore all avenues to inject resources and growth in our sports sector.

Question: Back in the days we use to have sports masters, physical education and sporting competition in our schools. Are you looking at bringing this back and harnessing talents therefrom?

Answer: Yes. We are working on that. Secondly, we are also going to organize zonal competitions where we will go to the hinterlands and organize competitions for our young people, as a way of fishing out talents and taking them to the state and national levels. We will do this in Orlu, Owerri and Okigwe zones.

Question: What about the salaries and emoluments of the sports workers. How have you been managing it. Are they happy?

Answer: The sports workers including the athlets are happy. Since His Excellency came, there has been alot of changes and motivations. We are gradually getting there. The salary scale of our players and sports persons are very much above average by Nigerian standards. Our main concern is to bring the private sector in for a massive growth of our sporting programs.

Publisher: Don Martyn L.O Nwosu

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