One-year review of the National Sports Day (JNS) /Interview with Dr. Lidi Bessi-Kama, Minister of Sports and Recreation

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Extract from the article: Il y a un an, le gouvernement pour inciter les Togolais à la pratique des activités physiques et sportives, décrétait les derniers samedis du mois « Journées nationales du sport » (JNS). Un an après cette décision, quel est le constat sur le terrain

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« JNS is a monthly event to encourage and remind people to practice sport regularly »

A year ago, to encourage Togolese to take up physical activity and sport, the government declared the last Saturdays of the month "National Sports Days" (JNS). One year on, how do things stand on the ground? Have the Togolese embraced the initiative? To find out more, the online newspaper "Togo Scoop" spoke to the Minister of Sports and Leisure, Dr Lidi Bessi-Kama. Follow his answer in this exclusive interview.

TOGO SCOOP: Instituted by the government in the Council of Ministers, the National Sports Day (JNS) is blowing out its first candle on August 25, 2023. Madam Minister, how would you assess this initiative one year on?

Dr Lidi Bessi-Kama: The assessment is positive, even if we humbly admit that we need to keep working to improve what is already being done!The National Sports Days are in fact a program instituted by the government to encourage the Togolese population to make regular physical activity and sport part of their daily routine. The aim is to use sport to improve the health and well-being of all, and to strengthen social ties and community life.

I think people have understood the message, and every last Saturday of the month, we get together to play sports adapted to all age categories and socio-professional strata, and to exchange views on different themes depending on the realities of our localities.These are moments of joy, happiness, sharing and exchange that people have now incorporated into their agendas.

However, we recognize that in terms of mobilization, we must continue to work to get the whole population to understand the merits of these JNS and to jump on the bandwagon.

Are you satisfied with Togolese support for the initiative? What remains to be done to ensure the sustainability of the JNS?

Satisfied? Yes, but there's still work to be done to mobilize more people around JNS every last Saturday of the month, to share the benefits of human warmth and the joy of living together in a sporting atmosphere.

Satisfaction, because over the past 11 editions of the JNS, I've always seen people, draped in their sportswear, roaming the arteries of our country's various communes, chanting to the rhythm of local musical instruments to bring joy to the participants. Today, the JNS has become a monthly event in Togo, taking place in all 117 of the country's communes, but with low attendance in some places, especially in the interior of the country.

To remedy this situation, the Ministry of Sports and Leisure intends to improve its collaboration with the communes by helping them to set up mass sports units in the town halls. We are also organizing a round table with all the players involved, to discuss the challenges and prospects for a more successful and sustainable JNS.Other activities such as sidewalk microphones and media outings are also planned, with a view to listening to the public and raising awareness.

When you drive around town these days and see the capital's inhabitants taking up sports even on working days, do you think that you have something to do with this upsurge in sporting activity?

The aim of JNS is also to make the Togolese resilient and capable of meeting the development needs of our country, which has begun its industrialization with the operationalization of the Plateforme Industrielle d'Adétikopé (PIA). Togo needs each and every one of its children, boys and girls alike, for its construction and development.To do this, we need to preserve our health and be resilient, and sport remains one of the preferred means of doing so, as it boosts our immunity, lowers blood pressure, increases endurance, improves concentration, strengthens the body, boosts self-esteem, keeps the mind sharp, helps to de-stress and prevents many illnesses.

It's therefore normal and gratifying to see the Togolese taking up sport more and more. I encourage them to do so, and invite others to follow in their footsteps.

But it's clear that beyond Lomé, there's little interest in the operation in the interior of the country. The same indifference can also be observed in certain communes. What can be done to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control?

As I said earlier, the situation is real, especially in the interior of the country.But I'd like to make it clear that this is not a competitive sport, but a mass sport; it's simply a question of getting people to move regularly for their own health and well-being.

The Togolese population is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of regular physical activity and sport. To get the whole population on board, we're continuing our awareness-raising work.But especially in the context of the 1st anniversary of JNS, we are organizing a round table on the challenges and prospects, so that together with the players involved, we can come up with approaches to solutions likely to improve the existing situation and mobilize more people around this initiative. We will also be working more closely with the umbrella organization of Togo's communes, as it is the mayors who are the main players in the organization of the JNS, according to the methodological guide put in place for this purpose.Initiatives will also be taken to listen to people's opinions and proposals, as well as to support the communes in terms of sports equipment and infrastructures in the medium term.

It's also true that many people play sports completely off-camera...

Some people think that instead of declaring the last Saturday of the month a sports day, we should extend these days to the last weekend of the month, or even every weekend. What do you think?

I understand and appreciate the interest shown by our compatriots in the JNS, who would like to see it extended to a whole weekend.The truth is, we wanted JNS to be a monthly event to encourage and remind people to take part in regular physical activities and adapted sports.

It's not just a question of people limiting their adapted sports activities to the last Saturday of the month. Beyond the JNS, which take the form of « reunions » in the local communities, everyone needs to organize themselves to do sport 3 or 4 times a week, or even more, in any case, as much as possible, to reap the benefits.

Sport preserves our health and helps us to be resilient.I therefore encourage everyone to take part in physical activity and sport as regularly as possible, in addition to the JNS events held on the last Saturday of the month.What's more, the Ministry of Sport and Leisure (MSL), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Communication, has launched a television program called "Gym Impact", which airs on TVT every day from Monday to Friday, in the morning from 5.30am to 6am and at night from 11pm to 11.30pm, to encourage people to take up sport.In short, the virtues of sport are priceless; let's make the most of them!

One of the problems facing sport in Togo is the scarcity of playing fields. In some communes, it's hard to find two or three playing fields. Schools that used to be used for sports are increasingly fenced in these days. What can be done to bring playgrounds closer to the players?

It's true that we don't have enough playgrounds in our various communes to encourage the practice of sport.

The government is aware of this and is working to find medium- and long-term solutions. JNS is a monthly event designed to encourage and remind people to take up sport on a regular basis.That said, we will continue to work with local authorities to create suitable spaces for the practice of mass sporting activities, in order to encourage the implementation of a sporting culture in our country.

Sport and social cohesion is often the theme developed at the end of each sporting activity. Tell us, Minister, how can sport contribute to social cohesion?

Beyond the well-being that regular practice of physical and sporting activities brings to human beings, sport conveys important values, foremost among which is PEACE, without which no development is possible.In addition to this sine qua non, there are other no less important values such as Respect, Friendship, Acceptance of Others, Tolerance, Fair Play, Endurance, Discipline and Excellence, all of which are indispensable for living together and social cohesion. Sport mobilizes and unites people, even those in conflict. It is also an excellent means of educating young people, which is why we take advantage of the JNS every last Saturday of the month to raise public awareness on themes chosen by the town halls according to the local realities of the moment.The JNS also encourage intergenerational exchanges and dialogue between those in power and those being governed, without protocol, for the mutual understanding necessary for a better way of living together.During the JNS, many young people were able to meet and discuss issues of interest with the Prime Minister, who is always on the ground to set an example, ministers, senior civil servants, ambassadors, etc., and vice versa.In short, the reach of sport has no equal; that's the magic of sport.

Closing remarks...

Gratitude and thanks to the President of the Republic, His Excellency Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, for having authorized the establishment of JNS in our country to contribute to the improvement of health, well-being and social cohesion.

JNS fosters intergenerational exchange and dialogue between rulers and ruled, without protocol.

Sincere thanks also to the Prime Minister, Victoire Tomegah-Dogbé, who never fails to don her sports suit on the last Saturday of the month to set an example and encourage people to take up sport regularly. Thank you to all the ministers, prefects, mayors, traditional and religious chiefs, youth groups, women's groups, disabled people, the media and the entire Togolese population for their mobilization.Sport for a resilient Togo!

See you on August 26 in our communes to celebrate
the 1st anniversary of the JNS.

Source : www.togoscoop.tg