The Veteran Wrestlers Association of Nigeria has described the appointment of Shehu Dikko as Chairman of National Sports Commission as a square peg in a square hole

The veteran wrestlers who commended President Bola Tinubu for the appointment said this after paying Dikko a courtesy call in his office to congratulate him and to discuss a way forward for wrestling in Nigeria.

Members of the contingent that visited the NSC Chairman were Nigeria wrestling greats including Austin Atasie, Philip Olawale, Garba Lame, Olawale Akala and Iliyasu Bawa.

Speaking on Friday, Chairman of VWAN, Maurice Atula, said they were confident that the reintroduction of NSC and appointment of Mr Dikko was a lifeline for the Nigerian sports sector 

He said, “Sports persons will ideally manage sports better, and Shehu Dikko is one of us, we are convinced that he will do well. Mr President got it right on this one, we want to thank him for giving sports a lifeline by the appointment of Shehu Dikko as Chairman of NSC,” he said.

Mr Atula said as the Nigeria Wrestling Federation election approaches, the veterans were still of the strong opinion that a wrestling technocrat should succeed the outgoing president to prevent the sports from going into extinction.

 The chairman said the wrestling community, especially the veterans, rallied to ensure that a core wrestler became president 12 years ago, adding that the success recorded in the period was attributable to the decision.

He said another wrestler should be supported to take over and that it was expected that the outgoing president should throw his weight behind another wrestling technocrat to take over the mantle of leadership.

He stated, “The Chairman of NSC met face to face with the real wrestling champions on Thursday and considered our demand to have wrestling technocrats as the next President of NWF. Nigerian wrestlers galvanised to support the current President of NWF to take care of wrestling, after 12 years we expect that the President will reciprocate the respect we gave him by supporting another wrestler. One who has capacity, who was a  wrestler, coached the game and a good administrator, such is the right person for the next NWF.’’

(NAN)