YOUTH & SPORTS DEVELOPMENT: OTUNBA DELE OLOGUN SETS AGENDA

By Collins Dupson, 25th January, 2022

…To Revamp Nose Diving Sports Sector

The Youngest Commissioner in the administration of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN, Otunba Bamidele Ologun is determined to take sporting activities and youth development in Ondo State to the next level. The business man turned politician has been assigned to oversee the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.

On December 13, Governor Akeredolu unveiled his new set of cabinet members with the young and vibrant Dele Ologun given the portfolio as the commissioner of Youth and Sports Development. Appointing Otunba Ologun as commissioner to oversee the ministry is a round peg in a round hole.

It is clear that Ologun has a myriad of challenges to deal with but he will be presiding over a ministry that deals with the needs of volatile populations, active and eager to achieve. If Dele Ologun can succeed in the competitive private sectors, achieving greatness in the public sector won’t be a problem.

To avoid downward slide of the state’s sporting fortunes, the new commissioner has to fix some of the existing issues he inherited from the past occupiers of the office. The REDEMEED Agenda of Mr. Governor cut across every sector and Dele Ologun can’t afford to deliver the mandate of the Governor and the youthful populations he is representing.

Governor Akeredolu has promised to continue to explore opportunities to partner the private sector and other development partner to build the capacity of our teeming unemployed youths for sustainable job creation. The governor commitment on youth and sports development will no doubt comes to fruition with Otunba Dele Ologun at the helms of affairs at Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Otunba Delete Ologun is ready and prepare for the task ahead; he has goals achieving agenda for himself and the entire staff of the ministry. To achieve set agenda, he needs everyone – the staff, top government management, stakeholders and private partners.

According to him, ” I believe in youth development and I am determined to change the narrative where politicians distribute motorcycles as empowerment to the youths. What we are going to do is real youth empowerment in terms of capital development using sports”.

Over the years, Ministry of Sports in the state yield little or nothing to the coffers of the state government but this narrative is about to change as Otunba Dele Ologun is ready to partner private sector to boost the IGR of the ministry. To him, the covid-19 pandemic affect the economy of the state with negative effects on sports development, but believes things can still work out if everything is put in place.

THE AGENDA
Otunba Dele Ologun has started well with the successful meeting he held with the staff and management of the ministry but one biggest challenge the Sports Commissioner would face is that of disharmony in some key sports Sector of the state, attitude of civil servants to sports development and management challenges. In setting his agenda, he plans to harmonize every sector and run all-inclusive administration that would see everybody calls to action.

Another agenda of the commissioner is to protect the internal machinery of the ministry. While it is acceptable to welcome external influences in the administration of Sports from time to time, he promised to be protective of internal influence and interest which is the fulcrum around where the ministry revolves.

Ministry of Youth and Sports has produced many commissioners but some of them tend to be microscopic when it comes to critical decisions on sporting activities, to them football alone is the main thing. Otunba Ologun being a versatile person has chosen to look at sports from a very broad perspective. The focus alone should not be on football alone but accord equal attention to every sport practice in the state. He is determined to develop every sporting activity with goal of placing Ondo State on world map in some critical sports.

The three major football clubs in Ondo State are the Sunshine Star, Sunshine Queen and Rising Stars. These clubs performances have nose dive based on some factors. To regain their lost glory, they need to be motivated and encouraged. The Honorable commissioner is determined to chart a new course for the Boys and Girls of this team.

For the Commissioner to be great and successful, he should seek advice from stakeholders when faced with certain situations and also be wary of selfish advice. He is expected to usher in dynamism, resourcefulness and focused leadership.

With the high rate of criminality in the society today, one thing that government needs to focus attention is youth development; in doing this, sports are the best area to engage them. Sport could be used to create awareness and campaign on the dangers and risks of drug addiction. Hon Dele Ologun is determined to use sports to reduce crime rate in Ondo State.

Football talents discovery, creating sporting activities and developing attractive, stimulating recreational and sustainable talents for the young people. Creating employment opportunities through sports, setting up Football and Sports Academic which can be affiliated to big club in Europe and sponsoring them to oversea. All these can be achieved with public private partnership agreement which the commissioner is ready to key into.

With a promised to make an impact in the first 100 days in office, Otunba Dele Ologun needs to be proactive and engage people with vast experience in the sector. The Governor saw the energy, zeal and vigour in him and believed he has what it takes to deliver. Dele Ologun past antecedent has shown him as a resulted oriented and goals getter personality. Ondo State Sports sector will no doubt be better reformed and transformed under the new leadership. Let’s every one cooperate with him for a successful tenure as the Honorable Commissioner of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development in Ondo State.