Ihedioha @ 60 and Landmark Achievements In Sports In Seven Months

By Ori Martins

One area His Excellency, Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha hit the ground running on assumption of office was in the Sports sector.
To drive this seamlessly,he abolished the Sports ministry for its bureaucratic nature and immediately sent an Executive bill to the House of Assembly for the establishment of a Sports commission . Subsequently, the House enacted Law 31 2019 for the birth of the Sports commission to cure the ills of the Sports ministry thereby laying the foundation for proper sports development.

To ensure that his dream of bringing sanity to Imo sports was well accomplished, Ihedioha appointed an equally accomplished sports administrator, Chief (Sir) Fan Ndubuoke, as the pioneer Executive chairman.
Ihedioha’s first port of call was the rehabilitation/renovation of Dan Anyiam and the Grasshoppers International Handball Stadiums . Some of the jobs already commenced on both stadiums included, regrassing of the turf, re-roofing of the stadiums , replacement of the electronic score boards at the two centres as well as the installation of new seats at both the popular and VIP sections of the two centres. The laying of tartan tracks at both arenas were already ongoing.

Contract was awarded to a reputable company for construction of a modern indoor sports hall which was to house, among other indoor events , a world class gym. Two containers of world class sports equipment for the gym had already been ordered from Europe. This was after the commencement of’Walk for Life’ programme aimed at making sure Imolites remained physically fit.
However, one spectacular event under the short tenure of Ihedioha was a national Sports Summit in Owerri that had renowned sports experts across the country, including the then Sport minister, Sunday Dare in attendance. The Summit was to draw up a sports policy blue print for the state and Nigeria as a whole.
Before May, 2019 when Ihedioha was sworn in, Imo Sports Council was a ghost town as all the athletes and coaches of Imo extraction had gone to represent other states for better remuneration and conducive environment . To that effect, Ihedioha launched “Back to Roots” campaign which sought to bring all Imo born athletes and coaches back to Imo. The drive yielded instant results as athletes from other states expressed desire to switch allegiance to Imo state . All these lofty initiatives were truncated by the infamous Supreme Court judgement that removed Ihedioha from office.
As a way of sensitizing the sports men and women in Imo particularly those outside Owerri, Ihedioha organized Imo State Sports Festival, first of its kind in 21 years. The Festival Touch went round the 27 LGAs and was being received by the traditional rulers, LGA chairmen and Imo people in general. In addition, Ihedioha administration directed each Local government in the state to start the building of a stadium in their area , a project he personally supervised.

On his visit to Imo for the Sports summit, Chief Sunday Dare, the then minister of sports and a member of APC, marveled at what he saw on ground, and noted that “Imo State is now the home of sports development in Nigeria. The Federal Government will come down to Imo to tap from the their sports blue print for Nigeria’s sports development”.