By Chief Adegboye Onigbinde
“The baby is kicking”. Medical professionals often say this to an expecting-mother in a way to reassure her that the baby she is expecting is doing well in her womb. In fact, an observer entitled to see the naked stomach of a woman advanced in pregnancy can visibly observe the movements of the baby yet to be born. It is often an assurance that “all is well”. Not only this, as soon as the baby is born it begins to shuffle with its feet and to throw punches with its hands. This shuffling is often not limited to just the hands, neither is the punch throwing limited to just the hands; but the actions involve the arms and the legs, respectively, and, in fact, the whole body. It also cries vigorously, exercising the respiratory organs. There is often great fears on a baby who does not do all these.
This is enough proof that exercising – sports – is a natural course in the process of physical and mental development – and starts from the womb. Any error of omission or commission which truncates, limits, retards, or even terminates this course or procedure cannot, therefore, be in the interest of the child; and it may lead to mental and physical retardation or atrophy in the child. These could eventually create emotional, spiritual, social, economic and political problems for the child, his family, the state, and the nation at large.
Interestingly, during pregnancy, women are often encouraged to engage in moderate physical exercises. Definitely, these exercises are not just for the mother-to-be but also for the yet-to-be-born baby. Unfortunately, as soon as the baby is out into the world, the mother forgets all about physical exercises – both for her and for the new baby.
Contrary to this, I remember the days of our mothers and grandmothers who, after each bath for the baby – which may be twice or more in a day – would go through the rigid routine of:
- Throwing the baby up in the air and catching it back – at least, three times;
- Holding the baby by each arm – followed by both arms – and shaking it in the air;
- Holding the baby upside down by each leg in the air – and then both legs – and shaking the baby;
- Massaging the baby’s body rhythmically.
These, they believed, would not only make the baby strong, but would also take all forms of fright off the baby.
As the child went through his developmental stages – from infancy through adulthood – he not only grew into the family professional, domestic and community chores involving physical activities, and from which he dared not attempt to abscond, he also got introduced to and involved in traditional games and sports. We all have nostalgic memories of our buuru, boju-boju, ekun-meran, e-ma-weyin-o, ginni-ginni-ta-kooko, porogun-ila, ayo, aarin,etc. All the mentioned are Yoruba traditional children’s sports parlance except ayo which is more of the elderly ones.
Also, we have our traditional religious celebrations, which involve vigorous dancing and various forms of physical activities.
Little wonder then that today’s children are not as resilient, mentally and physically alert, strong, agile, versatile, etc. as their predecessors. In domestic and public accidents, many people die before the accident actually happens, as a result of inadequate mental and physical alertness and agility. In fact, the weaknesses enumerated above are often the main causes of most of these accidents.
One wonders what type of “olu-alarun”(imbecile) citizens the country now produces. Our natural physiological endowments are not being adequately followed up and nurtured into perfection; and it is already telling on our performances and results.
If participation is sports is as natural and as beneficial to the growth and development of the child, any government should accept it a duty to its citizens to, not just encourage mass participation in sports, but ensure creation of enabling environment that will make such mass participation a reality. This will be in the area of provision of facilities and equipment, and qualified personnel.
The Force of Sports
All over the world, the force of the sport has broken international, regional, tribal, ethnic, religious, and other forms of barriers to bring people of almost irreconcilable interests together. It has softened tension among people of divergent interests. Not quite long ago Iraq, with all its state of unrest, emerged as a football force in Asia.
Back home here in Nigeria, it goes without saying that sport has served as a very strong unifying agent in our national life. It has doused political and social tension and rancor which had, otherwise, looked insurmountable. We have had Heads of State who used the power of sport to hold the nation together during highly precarious periods. We can also name State Governors and Governments who had used sports to boost their popularity.
Benefits of Mass Participation in Sports
Apart from being a natural course of development of the child, as stated above, a well-planned programme of mass participation in sports will engender the following crucial benefits:
- Avoidance of Crime, Juvenile Delinquencies and General Indiscipline
- Social problems of crime, juvenile delinquencies, secret societies’ activities, and a host of other forms of indiscipline among our youths will be greatly reduced if not totally eradicated with mass participation in sports.
- Let us examine this scenario: A child who leaves school at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon and has to be at a sports training session at 4 o’clock. If he wants to take any lunch at all, he will rush such a meal in order to be on time at the training venue. Within the hours of his training session he cannot be found at any other place planning or participating in any form of pranks; and by the time he returns home, the next thing he wants to do is to sleep. An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
- There is also the ripple effect on people who spend their time to watch him train or compete in sports.
- Multiply this scenario several thousand-fold, considering the number of youths that could be involved, and it will be appreciated that this scenario would have meant less expenses on prevention, detection and prosecution of crimes, and on general maintenance of law and order.
- Leadership and Social Behavioral Qualities
- The often touted spirit of sportsmanship is real. Sportsmen learn to see their adversaries as opponents and not as enemies. They also learn to accept the reality of winning some and losing some. There is also the spirit of teamwork.
- If all these qualities are imbibed in our leaders and in a larger percentage of our population there will be less chaos in our politics and our public life.
- Health
- I believe we do not need to belabour the facts of positive effects of sports on health.
- Mass participation in sports, apart from reducing expenses on medical care –preventive, curative, therapeutic and rehabilitative – good health in the citizens will lead to higher levels of productivities at all levels and in all areas of our public and private endeavours, thereby boosting the economy of the state. It will also reduce rate of accidents
- No scholar is complete without adequate attention to the development of the physical being of the scholar.
- Unemployment
- Getting our youths and the general populace involved in mass participation in sports will reduce the rate of unemployment, and the presence of social miscreants.
- Economy
- High-level performers emerging from mass participation in sports will secure appointments abroad and invest their earnings in the state. We can go on and on.
Orientation and Attitude
There is the need for efforts to correct the idea among some sectors of the community that sports are for dropouts and the never-do-wells. There is the need to reemphasize the gains by individuals and the nation from mass participation in sports by our youths, rural dwellers, and all.
From the foregoing it should be appreciated that sports administration is a service – but with its attendant short-term, medium-time, and long-term benefits to individuals, the government, and the state. Any amount of money spent on sports development should be seen as a rewarding investment.
Talent Identification and Catchment Areas
The example in swimming in the old Western Region becomes very relevant for adaptation and adoption as regards various arms of sports. The search for swimmers then was concentrated in riverine areas of the region.
Institutions of learning could be made to specialize in particular sports so that children with abilities in such particular sports are directed to study in institutions that match their abilities. This is very important particularly in team sports where the actors need to be together as much as possible.
Personnel
There will be the need to employ the services of consultants and experts with relevant knowledge and experience to scout round to identify talents and to handle their development.
To raise the standard of education in any setup, the first concentration should be on production of good-quality teachers. In like manner, to improve the standard of administration and performance in sports, there must be available adequately and appropriately qualified personnel.
At a time in this country when programmes at teachers’ training colleges were carried out in instalments: Grades III, II and I/NCE, Physical and Health Education used to be a compulsory subject. This meant that if a student had credit in all other subjects and failed in this subject he would not obtain his certificate until he had retaken the subject and obtained a pass. This was not all: this subject was in two parts of Theory and Practical. The result was not by aggregate; if you failed in either of the two parts there was no certificate for you. The contents of this subject included history, administration, rules and laws, and technical coaching of not less than about a dozen of various sports. The objective was that by the time a student (male or female) left the college and got posted in any school he/she was equipped to administer and coach these sports to his/her pupils/students. Physical Education was a daily subject on the school curriculum then.
This was the root of what Nigeria eventually achieved in sports.
In the absence of this system as at present, development programmes that will enhance the training of school games-masters, youths and local soccer coaches must be articulated. This must include regular and standard graded coaching courses, seminars, symposia, in-service trainings and retraining, and attachments with clubs—both within and outside the country.
It is most regrettable that, even within the country, there is no developmental programme for the development of our sports. The hope for the development of such a programme cannot be realized until virile Technical and Development Departments are established in our sports setup, right from the club—through the local and state, to the national level.
Specialization
A well-articulated development and training programme will include training of coaches to specialize in the handling of youths, both male and female players, based on the peculiarities at various and respective development stages.
Facilities
Go to most of our primary and secondary schools – and in fact some of our tertiary institutions – today, and you will hardly find any open space where the pupils/students could recreate. All the originally planned open spaces, even in new community settlements, are built-up. This will be less surprising when we remember that, in this country, we are yet to appreciate the values of recreation. It is often 24/7 of tension. Entertainers are regarded as beggars.
Equipment
The absence of an international standard sports equipment industry in this country is sad. Lack of awareness for the values of recreation and sports, as enumerated above, is highly regrettable.
Development
The primary objective of any sports organization is to develop sport. This is clearly amplified by the priority of place given to “development” by various international sport organizations.
One clog in the wheel of progress in the standard of the sports in Nigeria lies in over-concentration on competitions and the utter neglect of the development of sport. Our sport administrators are often eager to host, organize and participate in local and international competitions, with little or no efforts at establishing or hosting meaningful developmental programmes.
Competitions should be seen as what they are. Like examinations in schools, they are supposed to be used to assess the level of development attained. Engagement in competitions before the establishment and execution of an effective developmental programme can be likened to the case of a new teacher who starts in a new class with examinations. In other words, the norm should be: “input before assessment”.
Synopsis of the action points:
In the normal sense of it, no teacher starts a class with examinations, hence it shouldn’t be said that a competition should go before training like in Nigeria’s context, the norm should be: “input before assessment”; hence the must for developmental sports system.
Sports is a natural and costless means of healthy living
If all other means of security measures allegedly seems to fail, let us go for sports; it is a sure magic to reducing crime rate, if not totally eradicated, it will at least permanently tame juvenile delinquencies.
Sports, if well managed by a particular nation, could cater for their annual budget; thus it could safely be said that sports development is directly proportional to economic advancement of a nation (a case study of European world).
The fact that developmental sports approaches are not obtainable in Nigeria could not be over emphasized.
Developmental sports system is key to successes and winning of national teams in different areas of sports; the very system which is apparently lacking in the Nigerian sports management.
