Yemi Idowu Planning Big for Schools Sports

His passion for grassroots and schools’ sports is second to none and in recognition of  Yemi Idowu’s unprecedented love for schools’ sports, the Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF) on Tuesday at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National, Surulere, decided to install the grassroots sports philanthropist per excellence as patron of the federation. For former Sterling Bank chief, the recognition is just a challenge to do more, writes Kunle Adewale 

The Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF) on Tuesday appointed foremost sports philanthropist Yemi Idowu as its patron.

At investiture held at the National Stadium in Lagos, NSSF President, Olabisi Joseph described Idowu as a strong supporter of school sports while his involvement in grassroots sports development endeared him to the federation to consider him as patron.

On how much pressure the new cap he is wearing now would be on him, the former Sterling Bank man said, “I don’t think the pressure is that much on me alone because we are all jointly involved in it, the press inclusive. The pressure is also on the press to start reporting activities at the school level so that we can start knowing some names of school athletes. We have a lot of good school athletes but they don’t get the deserved mention,” he noted.

Explaining the rationale behind the appointment of Idowu as patron, Joseph said: “As a distinguished sports personality and a prominent figure in the Nigerian sporting landscape, your vast experience in the sports industry, your dedication to promoting sports at the grassroots level, coupled with your philanthropic initiatives, has positively impacted the lives of many aspiring athletes. Your association with our federation will undoubtedly inspire and motivate our young athletes to achieve excellence.”

“She added: Your dedication to sports, unwavering support for young athletes, and commitment to the development of sports in Nigeria have made you an ideal candidate for this prestigious role.”

In his acceptance remarks, Idowu, was also instrumental in the transformation of the famous Maracana Stadium in Ajegunle to a world class grass root sports development facility thanked NSSF for the gesture while pledging his commitment to school sports.

In his acceptance speech, Idowu said: “I want to thank the NSSF for considering me for this and I believe that we can all work together and improve the fortunes of school sports in Nigeria. Sports is my passion and it has been my ideal to support sports at grassroots level and with this, my involvement in school sports will increase and I believe we have short, medium and long term goals to take our school sports to an enviable position in the world,” Idowu said.

He however, said as a short term goal, a national school football would be staged across the country with the finals taking place at the famous Maracana Stadium in November later this year.

As a patron of NSSF, Joseph said Idowu is expected to be instrumental in shaping the future of sports in Nigeria as well as guide dance and support in developing strategies to enhance the quality of sporting and education programmes; securing sponsorships for events, and expanding the reach of the federation.

Idowu is a patron of sports at the grassroots with more than 18 years’ experience in sponsorship and management of sports competitions and events. He is also a co-founder and Director of the successful Lagos Junior League and Chairman of Nath Boys Sports Club, an amateur youth sports organisation that owns Nath Boys Football Club, two-time champions of the Lagos Junior Premier League and the former champions of the Lagos Metro league.

Nath Boys produced key members of the U17 world cup winning team in 2013 and players like Wilfred Ndidi of English Premier League Leicester City FC.

Despite all his contributions to grassroots and Schools sports, Idowu is still believed to be nowhere close to his father- Chief Nathaniel Idowu’s contribution to sports development in the country.

Asked whether he could ever match the contribution of his father, Nathaniel Idowu to grassroots development, he reacted thus: “I see it as a continuation of what my dad had done in the past, but I don’t want it to look like an individual thing or me. One of the reasons why we’ve tried to be very quiet about it in the past is because we wanted to carry everybody along but now, we are changing strategy. For instance, you need an arrow head to make sure you can push these things farther.”

“I look at it as a continuous exercise and not like a one off and I want Nigeria school sports to grow to the next level and this is one of the reasons why I am doing this,” Idowu assured.