Nigeria’s new sports minister should hit the ground running by putting in an audacious bid to host the 2030 World Cup

Ayo Akinfe

[1] So eventually President Tinubu named his cabinet, appointing Senator John Owan Enoh as the new sports minister

[2] Kenneth Kaunda once said: “Sports is power.” What he meant was that success in sports has the opportunity to open up openings for the betterment of society. Nigeria needs to start understanding this

[3] Having seen how the recent Women’s World Cup has provided Australia with a big boost, one cannot deny the power of hosting global sporting tournaments. I can see Australia attracting a lot ok investors and tourists over the coming months

[4] Nigeria last had a big boost like that in 1977 when we hosted Festac. Everyone wanted to be associated with Nigeria and every known black American traced their roots back to Nigeria

[5] For me, Senator Enoh needs to launching two campaigns: “Winning the World Cup during my tenure" and "Hosting the World Cup Within a Decade."

[6] Our national team the Super Eagles have been on the verge of achieving greatness for about two decades now but at no stage have they really shown that they are set to join the elite band of sides that have won the World Cup before. We may dazzle, flatter to deceive and now and again come up with brilliant results but are nowhere near as good as the likes of Brazil, Germany, Italy, France, Holland, Argentina or Spain

[7] In 2026, we have to make a stand and say enough of this “nearly business.” We saw it with the Falcons in Australia. They should be the ones in Sunday’s final not England

[8] We want to use hosting the World Cup to attract investors to develop our cities. Fifa insists that all host cities must be accessible by road, rail and air, so Nigeria will be looking to significantly expand the infrastructure in about 10 of her cities

[9] In addition, it is also time to deliver on the pitch with our own unique brand of football and start selling it as a global brand. Brazil plays Samba Football, the Dutch gave us Total Football and Spain gave us Tika-Taka. I believe it is time for Palm Wine Football to make its way up there with them. Nigerian football is based on pace, quick counter-attacks, physicality and athleticism and it is now time to turn this into a global brand

[10] Back in the 1990s when the likes of Okocha, Kanu, Findi, Taribo, Amokachi, Oliseh, et al wooed the world, it was common to see our green-white-green jerseys being worn by Europeans. This will fund our football development. We this need an appealing kit that fans will be happy to go out and purchase. Personally, I would go for a unique green version of Croatia's jersey. Make it our iconic kit