NSC explores opportunities, benefits in Formula 1 Motorsport

In furtherance of the sports economy and how to make sports a major contributor to the nation’s GDP, the National Sports Commission is exploring the benefits of Formula 1 Motorsport.
This was the crux of a meeting between a delegation of Opus Racing Promotions, Formula 1 representatives and the National Sports Commission Chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko at the NSC Secretariat on Thursday.

The delegation led by former Nigerian international footballer Daniel Uchechi outlined the benefits of putting in place the Formula 1 Architecture and hosting F1 races.

His words, “This F1 Architecture is not just for races. It is an event center and you have loads of people with cars coming here to express themselves from January to December. For Miami in a weekend, they make $2.5b. That is just a weekend of F1 race in Miami just one city. Nigeria is bigger than Miami. You can then imagine what that will do for the Nigerian economy.

“It transcends from one day of a race to something more regular because this is a hub where people come to use their cars. Legally, we can make $3.5b every year. That is what this can do for the economy. It is a huge revenue generator.”

He continued, “Technologically, the benefits are immense. And talking about tourism, it will attract celebrities and all sorts of potential investors and visitors. It’s an opportunity to project Nigeria in a positive way. This will go a long way to change the global perception of Nigeria.

“Nigerian has not been development-driven in sports until now with the new leadership of the NSC. It has been all about competitions previously. The F1 initiative drives development from all angles, technologically, culturally, investments, tourism, wealth distribution, positive PR etc.

“With what I understand you are planning for the youths of Nigeria and sports in Nigerian, I think we have aligned visions here. This will keep the youths very engaged and upscale sports and economic development. You want this, F1 wants it. So there is a synergy.”

“The projection is that in 10 to 20 years time, this should have a ripple effect on Nigerian economy. Imagine that in 10 years time, we should have an F1 driver who is of Nigerian descent. That is what we are driving at.”

To this end, the F1 representatives are collaborating with the NSC on the feasibility of Nigeria bidding to host the 2028 Formula 1 Motorsport, preferably in Abuja. The delegation believes that the bid would be a propeller to developing the F1 Architecture and harnessing the immense benefits thereafter.

They pointed out that Rwanda and South Africa had officially bidded to host the event but expressed excitement at possibility of Nigeria joining the fray.

While accessing the benefits of this venture, Mallam Dikko expressed Nigeria’s readiness to be the first African country to host the Formula 1 Motorsport in over three decades.

His words, “The day Rwanda threw in a bid, I was speaking with a big industry player in the country and he asked me why Nigeria won’t bid. All the people in top government circles that I have spoken to about this are very excited. The consensus is that we should bid and we will.

“We are taking a road less traveled. We are doing things anew in this country in the sports reforms we are embarking on in line to the Renewed Hope Agenda and Shared Prosperity vision of our dear President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It will be extremely exciting and ceiling breaker to identify Nigeria with Formula 1. We have to stand out in Africa. If this is happening in the continent, we have to get involved.”

According to Mallam Dikko, this aligns with the Commission’s plans to host international tournaments across all sports.

His words, “There are plans for Nigeria along with other friendly countries to bid to co-host the Women’s World Cup in the future. But we are not doing only football. We are currently hosting the African Women Volleyball club Championship in Abuja and about 24 African countries are involved.

“We hosted the African Traditional Wrestling Tournament a few weeks back with about 11 countries participating. We have several other continental and global competitions across several sports already confirmed and lined up.

“Going forward, we are interested in hosting the Commonwealth Games and African games, the reason why we are being very intentional toward investing in upgrading our sporting infrastructures across the country. And now this Formula 1 race.

“We should be very bold to get it done. This is the type of actions that our dear President likes. He is very bold and intentional in his decisions with eyes always on resetting towards a prosperous future. Thus we have to tag along. Hosting the Formula 1 is very ambitious but we are committed to explore all possibilities to getting it done as it aligns with our RHINSE programme”, he said.

“We have a mandate from Mr. President to harness the potentials of sports economy in a sustainable way. Hence we have set the RHINSE programme hinged on the three Rs pillars – reset, refocus and relaunch. This is built around sport tourism, economic investment and hosting events like this will help us actualise this mandate. It will attract investments across all facets of the economy and create jobs. We envisioned to have sports contribute substantially to the nation’s GDP”, he added.

The group’s spokesperson further pointed out that they wanted Nigeria to be the next Formula 1 destination.

“This will be the first race in Africa in 30 to 45 years. Having the infrastructure in place shouldn’t be an insurmountable task. Driving round Abuja, you can already see the Formula 1 architecture. With this commitment, we have Tilke, the F1 Architecture firm on ground to put in place the necessary architecture. Abuja is attractive for this”, he concluded.

The Opus Racing Promotions delegation comprised Daniel Uchechi, Timi John, Marvin Sordell, Rich Kitto, Biyi Ladapo and Demola Abimbola.