Countdown To 2012 Olympics: Harnessing Nigeia’s Comparative Advantage

Out of the 24 sports to be featured at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Nigeria has entered for nine sports and four for the Paralympics with the high expectations of surpassing previous record in this year’s Summer Games.

To the Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, Nigeria entered for the sports which the officials believed the country has comparative advantages.

But some sports administrators and sports people have disagreed with him vehemently stressing that Nigeria is yet to tap in into sports that she really has relative advantages.

It is a fact that countries always present athletes in sports that they are sure of picking Olympic medals instead of sports that they will have to fight before clinching a medal.

In recent time, Jamaica have dominated the track and field events in international sporting meets. The reason for their dominance is not far-fetched because an average family in Jamaica has a track within their compound. This has given the athletes to train easily at their backyards.

Usain Bolt won in the fastest time this year and set a new record at the Diamond League in Rome last week is clear evidence that the Jamaicans are no pushovers in track and field races and they would be heading into the Olympics with their heads held high. But this cannot be said of Nigerian athletes. Like the Jamaicans, the strength of the East African countries is in the middle-distance and long-distance.

Nigeria being an aquatic country is expected to use her rich coastal strength to dominate all the aquatic sports like: diving; swimming; rowing; water polo and others.

Team Nigeria will only have an athlete in the canoeing event, Akinyemi Johnson, which ordinarily is suppose to be where Nigeria is suppose to have a complete medal sweep.

From the creeks in the Niger-Delta, the rivers in the west and other coastal regions Nigeria could only get one athlete in aquatic sports and this have left tongues wagging.

It is of general believe that majority of athletes that should be on the entourage of Team Nigeria should be in aquatic sports but reverse is the case.

Despite Johnson being the only athlete that will be representing Team Nigeria in aquatic sport but it is pertinent to note that it was due to his resilience that helped him qualify for the quadrangular sports festival.

Quite alright, Nigeria may want water and good swimmers in abundance but winning medals goes beyond that. The manpower to train the swimmers and even the facilities are nowhere to be found in the country.

Adding his view to the growing concerns in the aquatic sport in the country, member Technical Committee of the Nigeria Rowing, Sailing and Canoeing Federation, Abioye Olufemi opined that Nigeria needs modern aquatic facilities if the country must make a state in water sports.

Olufemi is of the opinion that the Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC, National Sports Commission, NSC and the federations cannot do it alone while he urged corporate bodies and private individuals to embrace water sports in the country.

According to him “Nigeria has what it takes to rule aquatic sports in the world but the enabling environment is what is militating against the development of the sport, it requires a lot of funding especially from the corporate bodies, we need modern canoes and other facilities if we must make a headway”.

Corroborating Olufemi’s stand is Oladele Pius, who owns Miracle Beach Sports Club said his club has young swimmers that are medal hopefuls in swimming events of international competitions like the Olympic but said lack of swimming competition is the bane of the sport.

Only time will tell if Nigeria will go back to the drawing board and concentrate on sports, where they can be a dominant force.

—Adebobola Alawode