In continuation of the establishment of its zonal offices across the country, the Director-General and Chief Executive officer of the National Institute For Sports (NIS) Comrade Philip Shaibu along with his management team on Thursday visited the Governor of Adamawa state, Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, in Government House, Yola.
At the visit, the NIS Boss said Nigeria wil soon begin to export coaches in the nearest future.
Comrade Shaibu who is the immediate past deputy governor of Edo state said Nigeria has come of age to export coaches for clubs globally and national teams of other continents of the world, rather than import foreign or foreign trained coaches to the country’s national teams.
”If the NIS didn’t train excellent coaches like Justine Madugu, we wouldn’t have been able to retain the WAFCON. Nigeria is too big to be importing coaches to train us. It high time we began to export our coaches. They should be expatriates in other countries, not just in Africa but around the world. When we train excellent coaches, they will in turns train excellent athletes .
”We are ready to bring NIS back to what it used to be, which is training excellent coaches. Because when you train excellent coaches, the product becomes excellent athletes,” Shaibu said.
Shaibu further explained that the decentralization of the National Institute For Sports (NIS) became imperative for adequate inclusivity and development of sporting eco-system in the country.
Shaibu also disclosed that the zonal offices will take charge of certificate and diploma courses going forward saying that “President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is really investing in sports that aligned with his renewed hope agenda. We in NIS have cued into that vision in training and retraining of our coaches and athletes that in nearest future, our sports men and women will make us proud globally.
”We are now opening all the zonal offices in Nigeria after 50 years. These zonal offices will be responsible for certificate courses and diploma courses as we move on. Because later on, when we decentralize into states, the basic courses, which normally take three months, will go to the states.Whereas, the Zonal offices will still be in charge of the certificate courses and diploma courses. So we are going to have a full institute in Adamawa. It’s something very special and something very instructive.”
In his remark, the governor of Adamawa state, Fintiri said Adamawa is synonymous with sports which dates back to the old Gongola state and the recent success of coach Justine Madugu is a testament of what the state has to offer.
He further pledged full support for the NIS knowing that sports is an avenue to engage youths and the youths of the state will be fully available to take on programmes that the institute will be offering at various levels.
”When you look around the able young men and women present here, you’ll discover that Adamawa state has what it takes to make sports a means of livelihood and a profession. In the old Northeast, Gongola used to be one of the best places you can find athletes. When you come here, you will find all kinds of sports.
”We will work with other states in the zone to ensure that NIS does not die in our hands. We thank the NIS for this letter of engagement and strategic plan and as promised this project will take off in the first quarter of 2026,” he said.
