I was in Abuja last week to witness the historic debut of sports at the Nigerian Economic Summit. Welcome as the development was however, I could not help wondering why it took 23 years for such a massive industry to get a chance at a forum where jobs and wealth creation are top on the agenda. Maybe it is because those who manage our economy have not quite grasped the immense value of sports, or maybe the leading players in the industry have not been serious enough to push sports onto the front burner where it belongs.
Standing outside the conference hall at the Transcorp Hilton, I was handed a copy of a comprehensive 228-page report by the Oxford Business Group which detailed the key sectors the NSE had focused on. A quick scan of its contents revealed that it addressed sectors like banking, real estate, insurance, energy, utilities, industry, agriculture, ICT, capital markets, transport and more, but there was nothing on sports. “Why would you have a major report like this and not include sports?†I asked the OBG representative who handed me a free copy. A bit awkwardly, she explained that their focus was on the real drivers of economic growth.
She, they, obviously did not consider sports to be one, especially when, to be fair to them, their report was mostly based on what had gone on before at the NES. So I asked her whether she realised there was a Super Eagles match in Uyo last Saturday. She said yes. I then told her that the city was packed and that many of the people were from out of town. Airlines saw business spike. Also hotels; bars; food outlets; beverage companies; local transportation; farmers; banking and more? She connected with this quickly and wanted me to meet her bosses so we could expand the issue.
Sport is a huge economic driver, but many need to listen more. That is why having a session at the NSE was such a landmark event. The breakout session on sports was quite robust and revealing, but it soon became obvious that the debate needed much more than the one and half hours it was allocated. Still valid points were made as key discussants outlined what roles they thought government and the private sector should play to grow the industry. Ultimately it was agreed that the best way to deliver on the promise of sports was through public-private sector partnership. All agreed that sports need to be seen as big business first before corporate social responsibility.
Among the industry representatives at the session were the top brass of the League Management Company, organisers of the Nigerian Professional Football League, and one of the sponsors of the event. Chairman of the company Mallam Shehu Dikko was one of the panelists and he argued that sports should be granted a special status. Arguing that government should provide funding for not just participations at competitions, but funding for the proper development of athletes, he gave examples of what other countries were doing. He talked about how the British government invested about £200 million to help start off the English Premier League and pointed to the success this has created. He also spoke about how in Morocco the government has taken money from the budgets of different sectors to invest in 130 football pitches around the country. He however warned that there was a need for the right people to be given charge of the sports federations and for there to be better corporate governance.
Former director of BPP, Kashim Ibrahim, pointed out the need for public spaces to be provided in communities nationally for the engagement and development of talents. Giving the example of how seriously India has taken sports, he spoke how they have created ‘land banks’ for this purpose. He also spoke about how they have granted industry status to sports infrastructure and initiated a sports infrastructure summit to fast-track its development.
Interestingly the Dr. Amagwu Ibeawuchi of the Central Bank of Nigerian assured that the bank could intervene by providing funding for promising sports initiatives if organisers could properly articulate their business model and value chain, as well as get the buy-in of the presidency, as was the case with agriculture. He also challenged the industry to sell itself better, arguing that if sports were as good an investment as is claimed by its promoters, proper articulation of this would also see private investors get on board as everyone likes a good opportunity.
Honourable Nduka Irabor, the pioneer chairman of the LMC strongly advocated for increased government investments, arguing that even in the most advanced economies governments invested heavily in sports infrastructure. He stressed that, given the power of sports to unify the populace, national broadcaster NTA should be financially empowered to buy local sports content and beam to millions of Nigerian homes.
Looking at the legal side of things, Mr. Samson Ebomhe was of the view that there was a need for policies that help to protect local sports players. He pointed to the case in the UK where since the 1960s live matches have not been aired on Saturday afternoons in order to protect the lower leagues and encourage people to go to stadiums. He also talked about how TV broadcast policies helped change the game in the USA, where sports TV rights lead the rest of the world in revenues.
Progressive nations understand that sports create opportunities across several industries. The Indian sports infrastructure summit organisers capture this in their listing of participants expected on their website. Among these were architecture firms, construction and engineering companies, corporates, government representatives, public sector companies, real estate and infrastructure, sports federations and associations, sports leagues, sports consultants, sports management agencies, schools and colleges, sports investment companies, foundations and NGOs working at the grass-root level, social enterprises and start-ups in sports.
That is how far ranging the power of sport is in affecting the economy of a country.
