7/2/25
Sports Journalists have been called upon to live to their billing so as to Accelerate Sports development in Nigeria by leveraging on different areas of advancement in digital technology that has distorted traditional media platforms.
This call was made by Mr Emeka Enyadike, Project Director, Sports Apprentice and Director, Digital Sports Africa at a One-Day Sports Apprenticeship Bootcamp organised in collaboration with the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, Plateau State Chapter at Mees Palace,jos Plateau State.
Speaking on the topic ‘How To Build A Career in Sports’, Enyadike stated that ‘Sports development in Nigeria can accelerate better if sports Journalists can live up to their billing of keying into the digital advancement in reporting and knowing how to use all the social media platforms to get their news out and even carve a niche for themselves’. He also reiterated the fact ‘that there has been a lot of development in digital media technology and what it has done to traditional media platforms like the newspaper,TV and radio stations,who have to compete with bloggers,podcasters and citizen journalism as fans gravitate to those who provides them content’.
The Global Sports Industry leader, maintained that ‘in Nigeria a little more of investment in education of Sports Journalists is needed,which has to be more than going to the University but of more practical training in terms of what is needed by equipping them with latest technology and all the system that’s been done but also find a way to pay them well,so as to checkmate them and save them from the whims and caprices of football administrators who dictate what they write.
The SuperSports Int’l football analyst, further encouraged Journalists to ask questions about the reasons the country is not doing well in Sports competitions like the Olympics.
‘Ideally Journalists should be asking questions about why is the country not doing well at the Olympics, why is it that a lot of investment is put into football and very little into other sports where we have close to 50 Federations and multiple Sports and recently we’ve seen the performance of the female U-19 Cricket team,it shows that a little bit of investments in various sports in Nigeria can bring in a lot as Nigerians are built for sports’
On Mentorship, Enyadike , a top digital Sports media and Tech expert, said Mentorship is the biggest key for Journalists “I think the biggest key for Sports Journalists is mentorship, that’s one of the reason we organise the mentorship programme called the ‘Sports Apprentice Bootcamp’; we realised that we definitely need to show the younger ones the way, part of the problem is people think it is going to school that makes one but without a mentor pointing out to you what is right, what is wrong,what needs to be corrected when you make mistakes, he can tell you the steps to take as many people want to just and throwaway the ladder but if you have a mentor ,you’ll take the various steps. Mentorship as a form of education is far more valuable than what you learn in the classroom, it is a virtual circle as the mentee also mentor another”.
He also called on Sports Administrators to invest in development rather than looking at tournaments,go back to school Sports like in the USA and other climes where collegiate games are serious business and Journalists report these events properly that athletes are are unearthed through what Journalists write. Football clubs were also advised to key into digital transformation of their activities for better performance and outreach.
Enyadike therefore, encouraged Sports Journalists to be bold and courageous to call out any administrator that is not doing well without any fear.He then again enjoined Journalists to look up to professionals they admire and consider how they can follow and replicate what they do even better and appealed to mentors to see their mentees as their children not competitors.
Finally, the consultant and serial entrepreneur,said to the Bootcamp participants that ” to be relevant in Sports journalism, you must improve yourself especially in the areas of the use of all social media platforms, be extraordinary that people you don’t know will know you as your expertise will speak for you beyond borders”.
Credit: Nathaniel Mobolade,Jos.
