The Federal Government is considering integrating training programmes of the National Institute for Sports (NIS) into its Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) initiative as part of efforts to expand employment opportunities for young Nigerians and address skills shortages in the sports sector.
Maruf Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, disclosed this during a meeting with Philip Shaibu, Director-General of the NIS, where both officials discussed ways to align sports training with the Federal Government’s vocational skills development programme.
The proposed integration would provide young Nigerians with access to practical training in sports-related fields, including coaching, sports management, exercise science, sports medicine, facility maintenance and sports technology.
Alausa in a statement signed by Ikharo Attah, his Special Adviser (Media and Communications), said the initiative would help equip young people with employable skills while strengthening the capacity of Nigeria’s sports industry to generate jobs.
He explained that the ministry was exploring how existing NIS programmes could fit into the TVET framework, subject to the necessary consultations and approvals.
The minister said a common curricular framework would be developed in collaboration with relevant regulatory and professional bodies, including the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), National Sports Commission and private-sector stakeholders.
The proposed curriculum would cover Sports and Exercise Science; Coaching and Development Science; Sports Management and Business; Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation; Sports Technology and Data Analytics; and Sports Law.
Basic training in coaching, sports instruction and sports-facility maintenance could also be incorporated, depending on programme requirements and approvals.
Alausa said the government was considering using NIS training centres across eight states to widen access to the proposed programmes. Training courses lasting up to six months could also be considered under the arrangement.
He said the TVET initiative had trained and graduated more than 250,000 Nigerians through approximately 1,200 centres within the preceding 12 to 18 months, with about 98 percent of the centres privately operated.
Participants in the programme receive a monthly stipend of ?30,000 during their training, he added.
The minister said extending the programme to sports-related occupations could create employment opportunities in areas such as groundskeeping, pitch maintenance, coaching and games instruction.
He also identified the need to build local capacity in sports services, noting that better-trained Nigerians could help reduce the sector’s reliance on foreign expertise and workers.
Shaibu, in his remarks, highlighted the shortage of qualified games masters and certified coaches in the country, describing it as a major challenge to sports development.
He said the NIS had expanded its training activities across the six geopolitical zones and graduated more than 1,000 coaches within a year.
According to him, the institute’s 2025-2035 strategic plan places emphasis on coach certification, groundsmen training and creating pathways for retiring athletes to acquire new skills and remain active in the sports industry.
Shaibu called for the integration of the institute’s basic training programmes into the national TVET initiative, saying the partnership would help address the shortage of skilled personnel while improving access to professional sports training.
The proposed collaboration is expected to link vocational training with employment opportunities across the sports value chain, although the scope and implementation framework will depend on further consultations between the relevant institutions.