Ujiri wants sports technocrat as ministry’s head

President of basketball operations, Toronto Raptors, Masai Ujiri has urged the Federal Government to ensure that the Ministry of Sports is headed by a sports technocrat rather than appointing politicians as minister of sports.

Ujiri, who was in Lagos to celebrate the 2019 NBA trophy won by Toronto Raptors Basketball Club with Nigerians, said giving retired athletes the responsibility of managing the country’s sports would go a long way in revamping sports in Nigeria.

He added that the sports ministry has the capacity to discover and develop the abundant sports talents in Nigeria and also put viable structures for development.

Ujiri expressed concerns over the state of sports infrastructure in the country, while calling on the  federal, state and local government to rally build enduring structures in Nigeria.

Highlighting the achievements of his Giant of Africa programme, Ujiri said the project since its inception has continued to churn out great basketball stars in the continent.

“I came back home to celebrate with Nigerians on my team’s victory. My journey to stardom started here and it would not augur well on my part if I did not bring the trophy for Nigerians to see.”

He challenged Nigerians to demand for good leadership is sports, adding, “When I see none sports personalities in charge of sports in the country, I feel bad. This situation is not only peculiar to Nigeria because some other African countries are guilty of this anomaly.