NSC, David Umahi Federal University Partner to Boost Sports Medicine, Research
Oru Leonard
The National Sports Commission (NSC), has initiated discussions with David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences aimed at strengthening sports medicine, research, anti-doping education and sports administration capacity in Nigeria.
The collaboration was the focus of a strategic meeting between the Chairman of the Commission, Shehu Dikko, and the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Sam Ibeneme.
Speaking during the engagement, Dikko said the Commission was committed to building long-term institutional partnerships capable of addressing critical gaps in Nigeria’s sports sector, especially in sports medicine and anti-doping administration.
“At some point, as we move forward, we expect to have a proper developmental collaboration that will even veer into the antidoping programmes of the Commission. The President has signed the Antidoping Bill into law and the Antidoping Agency has also been established. We have to train more hands in that aspect as well, so we have to see how we can work with the university to that effect,” he said.
The NSC Chairman expressed concern over the shortage of trained professionals in sports medicine and sports administration across the country.
“We have a huge deficit in Sports Medicine. The last time we took the statistics, in the whole country, we don’t have up to fifty people properly trained in Sports Medicine. We also have a huge deficit in the sports educational sector generally. By the time we took data, we had only 16,000 students across all levels in the country offering one sports-related course or another. We are working to evolve policies and legislations that will help address these deficits,” Dikko added.
He further stressed the importance of improving competence among sports administrators to enhance sports development in Nigeria.
“There is also the issue of ensuring that we have properly qualified experts in sports administration and the need to regularly update their knowledge. Knowledge is power because you cannot give what you don’t have. Hopefully, if we have a properly structured collaboration, it should help fix this deficiency,” he noted.
Earlier, Prof. Ibeneme described the proposed partnership as a potential game-changer for the nation’s sports sector.
“We have collaborations with the Ministries of Health, Power and Education, as well as the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, and we felt it would be out of place not to engage with the NSC considering the level of work we are doing in sports medicine and related competencies,” he said.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, the university is prepared to contribute significantly in the areas of research, training, curriculum development and inter-sectoral collaboration.
“We can offer so much in the area of research, training, building inter-sectorial collaborations, curriculum development and aligning with new trends the Commission is driving. We will also help in training sports administrators and doctors specialising in Sports Medicine,” he added.
Both institutions are expected to hold further technical meetings towards developing a Memorandum of Understanding that will provide a structured framework for sustained collaboration.
Speaking on the significance of the engagement, the Director of Information and Public Relations of the NSC, Kehinde Ajayi, said the partnership reflects the Commission’s commitment to building institutional capacity and improving sports science in Nigeria.
Mrs. Ajayi noted that strengthening sports medicine and research would not only improve athlete welfare and performance but also support the Commission’s broader reforms in sports development and administration nationwide.
