Professor of Sports Administration and Management at the Tai Solarin University of Education, ljagun, Ogun State, (TASUED), Prof. Olugbemiga Olufolahan Oworu has lamented the near collapse of sports in Nigeria due to policy somersault on the part of the government. Prof. Owuru made this submission while delivering the University’s 13th Inaugural Lecture entitle: FROM WOMB TO TOMB:PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN THE SERVICE OF MANKIND held on Thursday 12th January, 2023 at the TETfund 2012 Hall of the Main Campus. THE 13TH INAUGURAL LECTURE The University don blamed policy inconsistency and the appointment of non professionals in managing the affairs of the sports ministry as some of the bane militating against sports development in Nigeria. speaking further, he chastised the sports ministry for adopting a fire brigade approach when planning for competitions, which in most cases do not bring the desired result. On the teaching of Physical Health Education, he traced the origin of the near comatose of its teaching in schools to the merger of the subject with Basic Science, Basic Technology, and Introductory Technology as one subject at the Basic Primary and Junior Secondary school levels with one or two periods per week.He disclosed that the absence of teachers for the subject in Primary and Secondary Schools is one of the manyproblems contributing to the near collapse of the subject. According to the sports administrator and management expert, other factors that led to the near collapse of teaching of physical health and health education in schools includes, lack of teaching facilities and equipment, inconsistency of education policy regarding the status of physical education, lack of employment of physical education teachers, unfriendly prioritisation of subjects, leading to the sack of physical teachers in some states of the federation are some of the challenges confronting teaching of Physical Health Education.
He therefore charged the government to employ qualified personnel to man the ministry if the lost glory of Nigeria in ssmusreme.
Speaking on the decline in life expectancy, Prof. Oworu traced the problem to urbanization, which he claimed to have transtormed our life stvle to a sedentarv one.
“Urbanisation, leading to the usurpation and conversion of communal play-ground due to industrialization and
technological advancement, has greatly reduced human pursuits for mobility, This, in turn, leads to increased
sedentary lifestyle, which imparts negatively on the quality of health and life expectancy, a trend which is now global” he added. Oworu, the health expert therefore implored all populace to take part in physical activity as it had been discovered that they help greatly in maintaining good well-being while calling on men to take part in house chores that had been looked on as disdainful for African men to engage in as a form of activity that can help in preventing physical inactivity, while dancing, clapping, trunk bending, flexions, stretching, squatting, attending parties, gardening, cycling, jogging, swimming, tennis playing and taking the stairs are other avenues of physical activities. He further disclosed that certain pastime activities like farming, hunting, and fishing had been wiped out due to urbanization and replaced with activities such as television viewing, computer video games, and sitting for long hours chatting on social media, and others had led to a sedentary lifestyle.
The don revealed that Nigeria ranked 190th out of the 193rd countries of the world thereby making it the 4th lowest in the world, falling below the world life expectancy average of 72.3 years.
Prof. Owuru further added that the COVID-19 pandemic also contributed immensely to a sedentary lifestyle due to the restriction on movement which reduced physical exercise to the minimum thus leading to overweight, obesity,
diabetes, and coronary heart disease amongst others. In his recommendations, the Professor of sports administration and management appealed for the removal of sports management from the Ministry of Youths and Sports to an autonomous National Sports Commission. He also advocated for the employment of professionals and specialists to manage sports, the establishment of a Sports Trust Fund and the inclusion of Physical Health Education as a compulsory requirement in the general studies curriculum. He also suggested an increase of government budgetary allocation to sports, return of the traditional lecture-free period for sports in schools while encouraging students to take part in active sports competition by granting scholarship to deserving students amongst others.
The event was attended by the immediate past Vice Chancellor of the University and the current Ogun State
Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu; HRH, Oba Abdul Rasheed Omotayo
Cossy Salami, llufemiloye 1, The Saderiren of Isoyin, professional colleagues, families, and friends
