Motorsport is not a popular sport in Nigeria, but the National Sports Commission is working hard to change that perception. To boost the future of motorsport in the country, the commission is collaborating with the Automobile and Touring Club of Nigeria (ATCN), motorsport governing body in Nigeria to discover fresh talents.
After a strategic meeting with ATCN delegation led by its president Ishaku Bamaiyi, NSC Chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko highlighted the Commission’s resolve to tread on uncharted territories.
His words, “I find this engagement very interesting. We all know about the Monte Carlo rally, Dakar Rally, Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans etc. These are money-spinning events. To activate this sports economy we are pushing for, we need to start featuring in such sports. Sports Tourism is a major arm of what we are doing to ensure that sports contributes to the nation’s GDP and motorsport will help in this regard.”
Just like he has been advocating in other sports, he believes that a move to the grassroots is the clincher here.
“You don’t learn to use your left hand at old age. You start at a very early age. We have to catch them young. We have to discover and nurture these talents that will put us on the global map in motorsport. This is why I am very much in with this proposal presented by ATCN. It very much aligns with our objectives. Sports shouldn’t be business as usual. We have to leverage on the opportunities provided by every sport”, he said.
He continued, “The value chains created at these events are immense. Beyond the tourism aspect, the jobs created at these venues cannot be deemphasized. The automobiles will need to be serviced and maintained by specialist technicians and the athletes will need trainers. What of those who would buy and sell while the race is on? We have to create as many sports activities as possible. We have to evolve the sports weekend economy. Our weekends have to be bubbling with sports activities, all over the country. We are even talking about the possibility of assembling some of these equipments locally. The opportunities in sports are immense. This is another indicator.”
ATCN is developing events like ‘Girls on Tracks’ and ‘Karting in schools’ to facilitate grassroots cross-car development.
Bamaiyi said, ‘The sport is expensive hence we are trying to develop from the grassroots. We are trying to catch them at the earlier stages because you cannot teach at an old age. If we get them at that young age, we can groom them to be world champions. We have the FIA programs for those aged between 18 and 26 and the professional karting programs which can start from age 4 or 5. We have a ten years plan from two years ago to produce these world champions, so we have eight more years.
“We have to teach them about the rules because the regulations are very technical. They have to know how to apply the rules and make the sport safer. So far, we have trained 100 marshals (motorsport officials).”
ATCN is seeking further collaborations with the other relevant agencies courtesy the NSC.
“FIA has given technical specifications for assembling the cross-car locally, so we will need the NSC to facilitate colloboration with say NASEINI and other stakeholders to build these cars locally which will create employment and develop the sport”, he noted.
ATCN is affiliated to Federation International de l’Automobile (FIA) (four wheels) and Federation International de Motorcycling (FIM) (two wheels).
