Nigeria’s Poor Olympic Performance

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By Tayo Ogunbiyi

The recently concluded London 2012 Olympics is arguably the worst the country has ever participated in since the inception of the games. While Granada, a country with a population less than that of Mushin in Lagos, won a gold medal at the London games, Nigeria, the ‘giant’ of Africa, went, saw but was conquered. To make matters worse, an event like boxing, that has earned us glory in the past, brought us nothing but shame as our boxers were beaten to stupor. That we had a nightmarish outing at the London games will, indeed, be an understatement.

It is a shame that with a population in excess of 160 million, we couldn’t raise a formidable team to participate in events such as swimming, handball, wrestling, volleyball, hockey among others. To further reinforce the sorry state of sport in the country, our male basketball team, D’Tigers, was fully made up of Nigerians in Diaspora despite having a National Basketball League in the country. It was obvious at the games that our athletes lacked the technical expertise required to excel at the world stage.  Poor athletes! In as much as they desired to succeed at the games, it is evident that desires alone cannot bring success at that level.

The story of our dismal performance at the games is not in any way different from what obtains in all facets of our national life. Over the years most of our leaders have demonstrated that they were not prepared for the hard task of leadership. It is, therefore, not surprising that unprepared leaders sent unprepared athletes to a game that is meant for serious minded and organised people. In our characteristic culture of wastage, we spent N2.3 billion on a project that turned out to be a jamboree. And as usual, one does not need to be a prophet to know that the officials that accompanied the country’s 61 athletes to the games are the greatest beneficiaries of the N2.3 billion ‘largesse’.

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? How come a country that used to produce world class athletes now parades average sportsmen? Where and how did we get it wrong?

Like it is the case in other sectors, 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 country’s sporting excellence, is today in a very sorry state . The Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan, has also lost its glory to years of neglect. This depressing tale is not different across the country. The result is the waning status of sports in the country as our athletes no longer have access to required training facilities. This is why, in recent times, some of our most talented athletes opt to represent other countries where access to world-class facilities is limitless.  At the London games, sixteen medals were won by Nigerians who represented other countries. How do you raise a generation of new athletes without creating the enabling environment?  That is the tragedy that has befallen the country’s sporting prospect. The unenviable state of sports in the country is further aggravated by the attitude of successive federal governments to sports, especially in the last twelve years when we have had over twelve 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. It is only administrators who are not zealous about sports that use money meant for athletes on themselves.

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 Nigeria’s most successful sporting individuals were discovered in Ajegunle. You can imagine how many Ajegunles exist across the country and how many budding sporting talents in such places are wasting away as a result of lack of exposure.

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The abandonment of school sports is equally accountable for the poor shape of sports in the country. Today, most schools in the country do not have space for games and sports.  The private schools are more culpable in this respect as they use every available space to construct class rooms. Gone are the days when quality attention was given to school sports. The glorious days of sports in Nigeria witnessed the discovery of budding talents from school sporting competitions such as NUGA, Principal Cup, and Manuwa Adebajo Soccer Championships among others.

A vast majority of states in the country have not helped matters either. In their bid to ‘do well’ in the National Sports Festival, most of them resort to snapping up athletes that have been groomed over the years by other states. This is a wrong approach. It is like cutting corners to attain success. Although they are getting the needed results now, the fruits of such results don’t last.

If we are to offer the teeming youth in the country an opportunity to fulfill their 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 thoroughbred sport personalities to take charge of sports administration.

In the same vein, government needs to put in place a policy that will place sports in the hands of the private sector as it is being done across the world. It has become evident that bureaucracy cannot do our sports any good. The private sector needs to be encouraged to take more active part in sports. All over the world, the initiatives and funds that drive sports come from the private sector. With the needed private sector drive, moribund school sports competitions across the country could be resuscitated.

Equally, a complete overhauling of all sporting facilities in the country is needed. Since it seems those saddled with overseeing the nation’s prime sporting facilities are overwhelmed with the enormity of the responsibility, government can resort to the PPP model. It is only in doing this that we can discover new sports heroes and tackle the twin issues of job creation and youth restiveness in the country. We can take a cue from the Chinese experience by preparing in earnest for Rio 2016. If we are to avert another shameful outing in the next games, this is the time to put in place the right structure to midwife our success at the Rio 2016 games.

•Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

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