Nigerians On Dalong's Appointment As Sports Minister

Prominent Nigerians have begun weighing in on the appointment of Solomon Dalong as the new minister  for youth and sports.

The president inaugurated 37 ministers and designated them to respective portfolios as he personally emerged as the Petroleum minister.

 President of the African Sports Journalists Union (ASJU), Mitchel Obi who spoke with Vanguardngr.com says the ASJU are mere spectators to the appointment of Lalong.

He said: “The president has made his choice of minister and we are only but spectators. If they allow
us to watch fine and if they don’t allow us fine, but this game belongs to us.”

He said Nigerians will be watching to see ‘whether they play well or not’. He also expressed optimism that Dalong would deliver despite his relative inexperience in sports administration in Nigeria.

He said: “We will be watching to see whether they will be playing well or not. If they score we applaud them and if they fail we boo them or wait for another opportunity to make a change.

So I was not in any way surprised. Even those who had sports background did they deliver? The so called economic experts have they changed the fortune of this country for the better? The experts in the power sector have not guaranteed steady supply of light in the country. So we are just going forward in the reverse.”

Former Commissioner for Sports in Bauchi state, Alhaji Sani Ahmed Toro urged Dalong to use the technocrats in the sports sector in Nigeria to achieve results.

He said: “Dalong is a youngman, a Lawyer and he is somebody who is learned and will not find it difficult carrying out any assignment. Sports is a complex sector, I told him, but I know if he can use the technocrats there definitely he will learn very fast.”