The newly appointed Director General of the National Institute for Sports (NIS), Comrade Philip Shaibu, has declared that there is an urgent need to rebrand the institute for Nigeria to produce Olympic medallists.

  Shaibu, who is the immediate past deputy governor of Edo State, took a facility tour of the Institute, yesterday, and expressed shock at the level of decay in parts of the Institute, which was established in 1974 to improve Nigeria’s performance in international sporting competitions.

  “The NIS is the engine room of Nigeria’s sports,” Shaibu said, adding: “If the NIS is sleeping, Nigeria’s sports is sleeping, and that is why our sports has not been moving forward,” he said.

  Shaibu said that Nigeria will return to winning ways in international competitions, including the Olympics if the NIS begins to fulfill its mandate, adding: “The quality of your coaches and managers will determine what you can do at the Olympics. The mandate given to me is total reform of the NIS, and I am grateful to President Bola Tinubu for his great vision for Nigerian sports. Nigeria cannot be a giant of Africa for nothing. We no longer find ourselves on the medals table at the Olympics and this is not good for our nation. We are not initiating a new vision, but coming to actualise the vision of Mr President for our sports.

  “To get that done, we need a total overhaul of the NIS. A lot of work needs to be done, but when you have the will, things will work. What I will do differently is to supervise everybody. I will meet with the students, staff, non-academic staff, and stakeholders on how best to reposition the NIS,” he stated.

  The NIS boss added: “During my tenure as deputy governor in Edo State, I came to realise that football, handball and a few sports can take more than 50 million of our youths from the labour market. We need to do something fast.”

Before he toured facilities, the registrar of the institute, Benson Belmond, assured him of the readiness of the staff to work with him. He said: “We have been looking forward to seeing you since the news of your appointment broke out. We know you are coming with a lot of experience. The former director general has done his part and we are looking up to you to add fresh blood.”

  Some of the areas Shaibu visited during the tour were the netball court, boxing gym, handball court, NIS hostel under construction, two gymnasiums, where he tested some of the equipment, male and female sauna (massage room), classrooms, various laboratories, and the Exams and Records Centre, among others.

  At the Exams and Records Centre, Shaibu expressed shock on seeing the staff operating their computers in darkness, as the generating set powering the NIS was said to be faulty.