The Director-General of the National Institute for Sports, Philip Shaibu, has unveiled a two-year plan to address the coaching deficit in Nigerian sports, The PUNCH reports.
During a visit to the Nigeria Football Federation office in Abuja on Monday, Shaibu disclosed that the country faces an estimated shortfall of two million coaches and called for collaboration with the federation to tackle the challenge.
“We are here on a condolence visit to the NFF on the passing of former NFA chairman, Ibrahim Galadima. He was a great leader nationally, within his state and in his community, and he will be greatly missed. We pray that God grants his soul eternal rest and comforts those he left behind, as well as the entire Nigerian football family.
“We are also here to seek collaboration with the NFF in our mission to bridge the two-million coaching gap in the Nigerian sports system. A meticulous study provided us with this number. If we accomplish this as planned, it will bring a complete turnaround to the coaching sector,” he said.
Shaibu added that recent admissions at the institute further highlighted the dominance of football in the country.
“When we matriculated 232 students recently, we discovered that 117 of them are football coaches, a ratio of more than 50 per cent, with the rest spread across other sports. This further underlines the fact that ours is a football nation,” he said.
President of the NFF, Ibrahim Gusau, said the federation is ready to support the institute in achieving its objectives.
“You may be aware that this NFF administration, since inception, has prioritised the development of our coaches. We have organised several coaching courses, including a CAF C Licence programme for 30 women coaches, who will return for their B Licence next year. We are also working to secure CAF approval to host a CAF A Licence course soon.
“We are ready to collaborate with the NIS to achieve your targets and objectives. I also advise engaging Ministers and State Commissioners for Education to garner broader support,” Gusau said.
The NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, a certified FIFA and CAF coaching instructor, also urged the institute to incorporate a diploma programme in sports administration into its curriculum.
