Stakeholders have continued to pour encomiums on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR for appointing Mallam Shehu Dikko and Hon. Bukola Olopade as National Sports Commission Chairman (NSC) and Director-General respectively.

The latest rain of praise came at the Newstap/SWAN Five-star Awards held at the Eko Club Lagos.

The consensus was that the nation’s sports was in safe hands considering the technocrats President Tinubu has put on the saddle.

Speaking after receiving an award for excellence, playing surface expert Ebi Egbe ‘Monimichelle’ dedicated the award to the NSC.

His words, “I dedicate this award to NSC. For the first time an appointment is being hailed by everyone. Usually when an appointment is made, you will hear criticisms here and there, but everyone applauded these appointments by the President. Mallam Dikko and Hon. Olopade will surely fix our sports.”

He believes the men at the helms of Nigerian sports will sort out the deplorable state of the nation’s sporting facilities.

“It is embarrassing to hear that we have only one certified pitch in Uyo. Our prayer is that the new NSC leadership will change all that”, he added.

According to GMD GTI Group, Abubakar Lawal, “NSC under Dikko is taking Nigerian sports to another level. I must acknowledge what he has done for Nigerian football and indeed sports right from when he was LMC Chairman and I have no doubt that he will replicate it in our sports in general. His partnership with Hon. Olopade is a game-changing one.”

In his vote of thanks, Editor -in-Chief of Newstap Communications and Chairman Nigeria National League (NNL), George Aluo pointed out that the greatest award should go to President Tinubu for picking the right people to run Nigerian sports.

“For the first time an appointment is made in sports and no eyebrow was raised. We have given out awards tonight but the man who deserves the biggest award is President Tinubu for making these appointments. Mark my words, during the elections in the next two years, one of the things that will bring back Tinubu is sports because where Dikko and Olopade are taking Nigerian sports is unimaginable. The youths and over 200m Nigerians that are passionate about sports are taking note and would key in to support the President”, he said.

In his speech, NSC Chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko, while applauding the organisers for the initiative, reiterated the Commission’s disposition towards podium performances.

“We are not here to trumpet our programmes at the Commission geared towards sports development and excellence, but what you are doing here aligns with our vision of discovering, nurturing and encouraging athletes to perform optimally”, he said.

Dikko concluded by thanking all stakeholders for the support and kind words for the NSC leadership, pointing out that he views this as debt on the Commission which can only be repaid through performance and successful delivery of the mandate to make sports ecosystem better and one of the key drivers of Nigerian economy.