SPORTS PERSONALITY: Bane of Sports devt in Kwara is lack of will – Jimoh Bashir

Jimoh Bashir is the new Chairman, Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Kwara Chapter. In this interview with MIKE ADEYEMI, he speaks on the readiness of Kwara SWAN to form synergy with the state government towards sports development in the state viz-a-viz the urgent need to reposition the association. Excerpts:

How would you react to your emergence as Kwara SWAN chairman?

I would want to describe it as special, because it was done under special arrangement.
Special arrangement in the sense that, our senior and most senior colleagues agreed that the status of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria in the state has gone down, compared to what it was before now.
There was a time that Kwara SWAN was rated third in the country, and that was because, we had various activities that impacted tremendously on members and the society meaningfully.
I was the Secretary of the association then. We organised befitting Media Games, staged educational seminars to upgrade the knowledge of members, especially as it relates to sports reportage, and we also strengthened our relationship with other stakeholders in the state, towards the development of sports.
SWAN is a critical stakeholder in the promotion and development of sports, and we must be seen to be relevant along that line.
I was invited to come and redeem the image of SWAN. And I know with the support of all, we will return the body to the path of glory.
Are you of the thought that Kwara SWAN in the recent time has receded relatively to the past years?
Just like I said earlier, yes, but it’s not peculiar to Kwara alone. But then, you know, we are concerned about our own, at least for now.
I just returned from National SWAN Conference in Abuja. I was there with the Secretary, Olayinka El-Hakeem Owolewa and our National Officer from the state, Alloy Chukwuemeka, who is also the Secretary, Club Owners Association of Nigeria.
The President and his people had an agenda that was totally different from ours, but we had to come together, especially we the State Chairmen, to save an impending ugly situation.
At the end of it all, an Electoral Committee was inaugurated. Any moment from now, elections will come up.

How can we be talking about the Review of Statutes when the tenure of the present executives is about ending?

Coming down to our state, there are some platforms that had been jettisoned, and some not properly executed. We hope to work on all these, and introduce new windows of opportunities, all in a bid to add value to Kwara SWAN.

What reform or modification should we be expecting at Kwara SWAN?

We will introduce serious reforms in Kwara SWAN. I just told you we will give fresh breath to some of the existing platforms we had and also inherited.
Just to mention a few, the Media Games, Education Platform, Personality Programmes and most importantly, we hope to complete our Secretariat project.
We are already reaching out to the stakeholders, to assist us, most especially on the Secretariat project.
We are introducing Membership Register, which will give us the actual number of our members, their status and where they belong.
This will give us multiple windows of opportunities to plan, especially on welfare of members.
This executive will give utmost priority to members’ welfare. It’s a promise I had made, and which, by His grace, I hope to keep. And that’s why I will be using this opportunity to call for the support of all members once again.
Running Kwara SWAN is not about me. It is also beyond the executives. It is about all of us. If we work together, we will surely achieve together.

How do you think the Kwara State Government and the association could form a synergy to promote sports in the state?

We all have critical and defined roles to play, all in the bid to create and sustain a platform for the empowerment and engagement of our teeming youths.
Sports has been identified as one of the key areas and tool for meaningful engagement of the youths.
Government has the overriding role, by virtue of its strong instruments, which includes, but not limited to the wherewithal to construct facilities, putting in place the needed policies that will create and sustain enabling environment for sportsmen and women to flower and flourish, and more.
Sports development is all about promoting the positive features, and finding solutions to the negative ones.
With that, the other partners in the business, like the private sector practitioners, philanthropists and others, who includes SWAN will come out to complement the role of the government.
In Kwara State, SWAN has a strong synergy with the government on the development of sports.
We will, very soon, be paying a courtesy visit to our Governor, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and his Deputy, Mr Kayode Alabi to give them our own recommendations on the present status of sports in the state, and what the government will need to consider.

Are you of the opinion that a state of emergency should be declare on sports in Kwara State?

Our situation has not deteriorated to that point. We already know what the problems are, and we also have known what the solutions would be. We have also known the roles that everyone of us has to play to make things a bit better.
So, knowing your problem or problems means that they are half solved. What remains is the will to do the needful, especially at the right time.

Our problem has always been the lack of will. I remembered some time ago, we had Sports Summit, where our problems and various ways of solving them were highlighted. But what becomes of that report? 

Government has a bigger role to play in rallying all the other components in achieving overall objective.
We are hoping that this government pay special attention to sports development, by first, rehabilitating the dilapidated and obsolete facilities at the Kwara State Stadium Complex and in our various schools, increase the subvention of the Sports Council, use the Sports Associations to create additional platforms where our youths can continue to spring to stardom and many more.
We have talents all around, but the opportunities are all but limited.
Government must lead, and lead positively too, for others to follow.