The director-general and chief executive officer of Nigeria’s National Institute for Sports (NIS), Comrade Philip Shaibu, has restated the school’s commitment to hosting all forthcoming coaching courses arranged for the country by international bodies.
Sports247 reports that Shaibu gave the assurance while speaking during an inspection of NIS facilities in Abuja, along with the technical director of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Austin Eguavoen, and official of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The inspection was aimed at checking if the NIS facilities are ready to host CAF license courses and ensure that students at the institute can acquire certification from the continental body with less strains, which Shaibu said is a major focus under his tenure.
While promising that the NIS under him will continue to partner with relevant bodies to upgrade its infrastructure, in order to make Nigeria a hub for sports training in Africa, Shaibu added that the institute is committed to providing world-class training facilities for sports development.
He further asserted that the NIS remains the apex institution for coaching education in Nigeria and, as such, must meet continental standards and commended the NFF for bringing the CAF-A License back to Nigeria, after many years of its absence in the country.
“I want to thank the NFF for bringing this elite coaching programme back to our shores. From our research, we discovered over 40,000 coaches in Nigeria are not certified. I believe our partnership with the NFF will see Nigeria become a big hub for coaching education in Africa,” Shaibu said.
The development comes after a recent memorandum of understanding that the NIS signed with the NFF to host all CAF coaching courses and licensed programmes granted Nigeria, with a view towards boosting the quality and impact of sports education in the country
