The Nigeria Shooting Sports Federation (NSSF) has called for a public-private partnership (PPP) to sponsor Nigerian shooters and prepare them for the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

Olusoja Akomu, general secretary of NSSF, made the call at the ongoing National Youth Games (NYG) on Friday in Asaba, Delta.

Mr Akomu said that it would require a concerted effort of all stakeholders to showcase the athletes at international events like the Olympics and Commonwealth.

He said that the lack of sponsorship had been the challenge, adding that the federal government cannot do it alone.

“The federation is trying its best; the Federal Ministry of Sports Development is trying its best, but we need sponsorship from the private sector.

“Shooting sport is an Olympics and Commonwealth sport but athletes do not get automatic tickets to participate, so there are minimum qualification series.

” As at this moment, there is no indoor shooting range in any other state in Nigeria.

“Delta is the first with a normal 10-metre indoor shooting range equipped, but we improvise with a makeshift shooting range in other states in the country.

“We thank God for the awareness; before now, we used to have less than eight states register for the game but now we have 17 states participating, that is an improvement.

“So, with time, more state governments will be convinced to get facilities, build and equip their shooting sport because it is a multi-medal event.

He explained that shooting sports is a game for both civilians and the military.

The general secretary said that since the athletes were aged below 15 years, skills acquired would be an advantage should they opt for a military career.

He said that the shooting team had engaged in training the athletes ahead of the official day to enable the shooters to master the use of the electronic target.

According to Mr Akomu, most shooters were trained with manual targets, but this time, we have the electronic target.

“The training will help them prepare properly for the competition.

” For now, 17 states are registered for shooting, with a total of 59 athletes, both males and females, taking part in shooting.

“In this game, we are expecting 24 medals; that is eight gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals.”

Mr Akomu challenged the state government to spend half of the monies spent to develop some of the popular sports on shooting sports.

“There will be a harvest of medals at international competitions,” Mr Akomu said.

He commended the Delta government for being the first and only state that had built and equipped an indoor shooting range for the training of athletes.

In an interview, some of the athletes expressed optimism to win medals at the games.

A 14-year-old Maryam Olaniyan, who won silver medals in the 2023 NYG in Delta, said shooting range helps build her confidence, courage and focus in life.

Idowu Tolulope, 14 years old, described the sport as an interesting and reliable one.

“The game is not yet popular in Africa, but it is an interesting game.

“I won gold and silver last year in 2023; I hope to win two gold medals this time for my state,” Ms Tolulope said.

On his part, Chiedozie Nnadi said he had encouraged more youths to enlist in shooting sports to build their confidence and focus in their life endeavours.

“It helps me focus and build my confidence to pursue anything that I want to do, particularly my academic work,” he said.

(NAN)