17th August, 2011
Nigeria first participated at the Olympic Games in 1952, and has since sent athletes to compete in all Summer Olympic Games, except for the boycotted 1976 Summer Olympics. Till date, Nigerian athletes have won a total of 23 medals at the Olympic Games with a substantial part coming from athletics and boxing. Perhaps, the peak of the countryâ€
However, like every other sector in the country, the nation is currently experiencing a declining fortune in the sporting arena. It is sad that a country that once produced great boxers such as Dick Tiger, Obisa Nwakpa, Jeremiah Okorodudu, to mention just a few has failed to produce enduring champions in the various categories of the sport in recent times.
In athletics the story is the same. With the exit of great talents such as Innocent Egbunike, Mary Onyali, Chidi Imoh, Sunday Bada, Falilat Ogunkoya among others, it is depressing to note that Nigeria is yet to produce equally talented world class athletes in recent times. Same goes for football. There was a time when Nigerian footballers were the toasts of the soccer world. Then, we used to have up to six nominees among the ten footballers usually nominated for the annual African Footballer of the Year Award. Indeed, the high point of the countryâ€
How did we travel this path of systematic disintegration in the sporting scene? How come we could not consolidate on past successes achieved in the sector? Why is a country that used to produce world class athletes now parade average ones? Like the story of the degeneration of other segments of the country, our passage to extinction in the sporting field did not just begin in a day. It started when we decided to allow sporting facilities across the country to waste away. The National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos which once used to be the symbol of the countryâ€
The unenviable condition of sports in the country has been further aggravated by attitude of successive federal administrations to it, especially in the last twelve years. This is reinforced by the fact that in the last twelve years, the country has had no less than ten sports ministers. The situation is not helped by the calibre of characters that have been sports ministers as it is obvious most of them were not passionate about sports. To them, the position was just another platform to feather their political nests. How wrong! Sport is a passionate project. It is something that comes from the heart. It can only thrive in an environment where it is driven by professional, competent and passionate administrators.
The continual neglect of sports at the grassroots is equally a strong factor in the abysmal state of sports in the country today. All over the world, the bulk of those who take to sports are grassroots people who see sports as a possible way of escape from the ravaging grip of poverty. Ajegunle, a prominent Lagos masses suburb, is renowned to be a famous breeding ground of potential athletes in the country. A reasonable number of Nigeriaâ€
A vast majority of states in the country have not helped matters either. In their bid to ‘do wellâ€
If we are to offer the teeming youth in the country an opportunity to fulfill their God given potentials, we must change our attitude to sports. If we could go as far as the World Bank to get a tested professional to manage the Ministry of Finance, then we need a thorough bred sport personality – someone whose whole essence revolves around sports- to take charge of the Sports Ministry. Equally, a complete overhaul of all sporting facilities in the country is needed. Since it seems those saddled with overseeing the nationâ€
Finally, governments across the country should focus on sports development at the grassroots. Lagos State is leading in this regard with the recently inaugurated Lagos State Sports Endowment Fund which is geared at taking sports to all parts of the state. The state government has also resuscitated competitions such as the Principalsâ€
•Ogunbiyi writes from Lagos