By Musa Jibril
The potential for Nigeria to turn sports into a source of foreign exchange and a sector capable of massive employment was emphasized by Mr. Remi Omosowon, chairman board of trustees of Pacific Schools.
Making a make-hay-while-the-sun-shines call at the school’s biennial inter house sports held recently, Omosowon noted that, “with about 180 million people, we can make big money from sports, just the same way India outsource ICT to the whole world.” He buttressed his conviction by citing examples of Nigerian sportsmen and women making waves around the world in football and other sports, such as basketball.
Omosowon who emphasized that “sport is an integral part of education” pointed out its benefits to a growing child to include development of social, psychomotor and intellectual skills.
Calling on the private sector to become active stakeholder in the sports industry he observed that “there is a lot of money to be made in sports, and sport is money. We only have to look at Europe to see what they make of football. Sports have come to stay all over the world. The onus is on Nigeria to key into it, and make good money out of it.”
He further advised parents to discourage their children from developing a mindset that is characteristic of the industrial age based wholly on working for pension.
“Whatever training you are giving your children, you must incorporate that mentality,” he said. “At Pacific Schools, we now incorporate financial literary, leadership training, and study skills into our curriculum. With these, students can begin to have the mindset of standing on their own rather than waiting for government to give them jobs.”
The biennial inter house sports, which took place at the Airforce Base, Shasha, Egbeda, Lagos, under the chairmanship of Mr. Ogbonaiye Gbenga of Exxon Mobil Nigeria, recorded an impressive turnout that included parents, guardians and other invited schools.
Some of the highlights of the day’s programme include colourful march past by nursery, primary and secondary schools and notable sports activities like track events and taekwondo.
Omosowon justified their tradition of biennial inter house sports. “Why we don’t do it every year is because it is so involving, it takes much of our time, and it costs a lot. We have to balance academics with sports, because we are a very serious academic school.”