Dearth of sponsors keep Nigerian swimmers out of waters

By George Aluo

Board member of the Nigeria Aquatics Federation, Dauda Usman religiously is a happy man as he is just back from Saudi Arabia where he went on pilgrimage.

But in the area of sports, Usman is in tears over the stagnant nature of water sports in the country.

With the second quarter of the year almost coming to an end, Nigeria Aquatics Federation has not been able to organize any championships, a situation that worries Usman.

Usman in a chat with this writer blames the situation on the dearth of sponsors who are not willing to bankroll events on the calendar of the sports federation.

“Our biggest challenge is that sponsors are not willing to bankroll our events. As we speak, the only national championship we are sure would hold this year is the Chief of Naval Staff competition. We thank the Nigerian Navy for sustaining the competition. Apart from that competition, we have not been able to secure any other sponsor and it is a very unfortunate situation,” Usman said.

He pointed out that without national competitions there is no way the country’s swimmers will do well at the international scene.

Usman who was full of praise for the world swimming governing body, World Aquatics said but for the support from World Aquatics Nigerian swimmers would not have been taking part in international meets.

“Without the support of FINA (World Aquatics) we would not have been able to compete in Budapest, Hungary last year at the World Championships,” Usman stated.

He urged corporate bodies to identify with the sport insisting that without corporate support water sports won’t grow in the country.