By Chigozie Chukwuleta
The Anambra State Government has announced a statewide data capturing, retraining and certification exercise for all sports instructors, officers and administrators operating in the state.
Commissioner for Youth Development and Sports, Mr. Patrick Agha Mba, announced this on Thursday, September 24, 2026, during a press conference held at the Ministry’s Conference Room in Awka.
Mr Agha Mba said the exercise is in line with Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s vision of repositioning sports not just as recreation but as a critical tool for youth empowerment, job creation, talent discovery, grassroots sports development and social cohesion.
“To achieve this lofty vision, we must have a solid foundation. You cannot have a thriving sports ecosystem without competent, trained, and certified manpower at the grassroots”.
According to him, the Ministry has constituted a Committee to sanitise, structure and strengthen sports development at the grassroots, following checks that revealed many individuals parading as sports instructors and administrators in schools, academies, clubs and communities are operating without formal registration with the Ministry and without standardised knowledge of modern coaching principles, sports safety, first aid, talent management and ethics.
“Our checks have shown that many individuals parading as Sports Instructors, Sports Officers and Administrators in schools, academies, clubs and communities across the state are operating without any formal registration with the Ministry, without standardized knowledge of modern fundamentals of sports, sports safety, first aid, talent management and sports ethics”.
He said the intervention will be carried out in three stages.
First is mandatory registration and data capture of all sports instructors, sports officers and sports administrators in the state. The database, he said, will help government plan, support and engage personnel for state and national programmes.
He announced that registration forms will be available from Monday, September 28, 2026, at the Ministry of Education, ASUBEB, PPSSC, Sports Associations, managers of state-owned stadiums and the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports desk officers in all local government areas.
He stressed that the registration is free and is aimed at generating a credible database for the state.
Second is a mandatory refresher and retraining workshop for all registered personnel. The workshop will cover general fundamentals of sports including sports administration, coaching principles, safety, anti-doping and safeguarding, as well as specialised technical sessions according to sports disciplines.
The third stage the commissioner said is certification pointing out that at the end of the workshop, participants will be duly certified by the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports.
“Going forward, the certificate will be a basic requirement for anyone wishing to practise as a sports instructor or administrator in any public institution or sports facility in the state”, he said
To ensure wider coverage, he said the workshop will be held at zonal levels – Anambra Central in Awka, Anambra North in Onitsha North and Anambra South in Aguata.
The Commissioner called on all sports instructors in primary and secondary schools, private academies, fitness centres, community clubs and local governments to take advantage of the window to get registered.
He said only certified personnel will be allowed to train young people in the state after the exercise, noting that the safety and future of youths remain paramount.
