Minister of Sports Leads Ministerial Retreat on Improving Athletes Performance at 2024 Olympics and Africa Games

The Honourable Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, is currently leading a ministerial retreat focused on improving the performance of Nigerian athletes at international sports competitions such as the 2024 Olympic and 2024 Africa Games. During his inaugural address, Senator Enoh highlighted the importance of evaluating training strategies, athlete and official codes of conduct, anti-doping education, and the role of National Sports Federations in achieving success at these upcoming events.

Senator Enoh expressed his appreciation for the hard work of the resource persons involved in Nigeria’s preparation and participation in these competitions. He expressed confidence in their ability to make this retreat meaningful and productive.

The Ministry of Sports Development will utilize this retreat to address various issues that hinder performance, including the lack of a structured process to improve athletes’ performance, unprofessionalism among sports administrators, athletes, and support personnel, funding challenges, delayed release of funds, inadequate training programs, lack of anti-doping education, and the absence of a scientific approach to training.

Furthermore, Senator Enoh announced that the team of resource persons will now serve as the Ministerial Podium Performance monitoring team. Their responsibility will be to monitor the preparations of federation athletes for the 2024 Africa Games in Ghana and the Olympic/Paralympic Games in Paris. Regular reports on these monitoring activities will be submitted to the Minister’s office.

With the declaration of the retreat open, Senator Enoh emphasized that success in sports serves as a measure of effective and meaningful governance at all levels.