The University of Uyo (UNIUYO) is set to transform its sports programme into a sustainable revenue-generating venture, with the institution preparing a new policy aimed at combining athletic development with academic pursuits.
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Christopher Ekong, disclosed this in Uyo at the weekend, saying the proposed policy would move sports beyond occasional interventions and establish it as an organised component of the university’s development strategy.
Ekong said the university’s objective was not merely to improve sporting activities but to create a system capable of generating income while providing student-athletes with opportunities to develop their talents without sacrificing their education.
“I took the first set of appointment to go to the United States to play football. I don’t want to just intervene in sports. I want to make money from sports. I want to make sports as a policy in the university,” he said.
According to him, the university would soon unveil a comprehensive sports policy designed to provide a sustainable framework for sporting activities and ensure that athletes can pursue competitive careers while remaining committed to their academic programmes.
The Vice Chancellor stressed that the initiative was intended to institutionalise sports development rather than rely on ad hoc interventions, with the university looking at ways of turning its sporting potential into a structured and economically viable enterprise.
He said the proposed approach would also seek to ensure that students who represent the university in various sporting competitions derive meaningful benefits from their talents while receiving the education for which they enrolled.
The move signals a shift in the university’s approach to sports, from treating athletics largely as an extracurricular activity to exploring its potential as an institutional asset capable of supporting students and contributing to the university’s financial sustainability.
Ekong said further details of the policy would be made public when the framework is unveiled.
