The National Sports Commission has pledged to provide equal opportunities for all sports to develop across Nigeria, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Chairman of the commission, Shehu Dikko, represented by his Chief of Staff, Salihu Abubakar, made the commitment while receiving a delegation from the Japan African Baseball and Softball Foundation in Abuja on Tuesday.

Dikko said that the government was committed to ensuring that no sport would be regarded as inferior or neglected under the present administration.

“In this dispensation, there is nothing called small sports.

“Every sport will get equal opportunity to flourish. Mr President confirmed this when he gave the same $100,000 reward to both the women’s football team and the basketball team. In our eyes, all sports are equal”, he said.

Dikko also emphasised that the commission recognised the potential of baseball and would continue to support the Nigeria Baseball and Softball Federation.

“We have seen the potential in baseball, and that is why we attend to the federation’s requests speedily.

“With a population of 250 million, Nigeria has enormous talents that can be harnessed in baseball. It is a sport that thrives on strength and dignity, which are qualities in abundance here”, he said.

The chairman added that Nigeria had the best talent reservoir on the continent and should be among the top baseball nations in Africa.

He added that the sport could also contribute to the country’s economy.

“Baseball is a potentially huge revenue earner. We have been given a mandate by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to harness the potential of the sports economy.

Our target is for sports to contribute at least three per cent to the nation’s GDP, and baseball can play a part in creating the jobs needed to achieve this,” he said.

The J-ABS delegation, led by President Shinja Tomonari, said their visit was part of preparations for the JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project, which will provide technical support to coaches and help expand the sport at the grassroots level in Nigeria.

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