Daily Trust Editorial of Friday August 23, 2024
Nigeria’s woeful outing at the XXXIII edition of the Olympic Games, the 2024 Paris Olympics, is another embarrassment too many. This is the eighth time Nigeria returned empty-handed, recording zero on the medal table, since the nation made its debut in Helsinki 1952 Olympics.
The flustering started in the contingent comprising 25 males and 63 females who competed in 12 sports events at the opening ceremony when the Nigerian female basketball team got to the boat departure area but were denied entry by a Nigerian official because too many were on board. The rest of the Nigerian delegation shared a boat with Niger and Norway.
Then, due to the negligence of officials, Favour Ofili, though qualified, was left out of the 100-metre list, reminiscent of the same issue in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she could not compete despite her qualification because sports officials failed to release funding for athletes based in the United States.
Another shameful incident reared its head as Nigeria’s first-ever Olympic cyclist, Ese Ukpeseraye, was forced to borrow a bike from the German team to compete after being unable to source one of her own. She was initially only registered for the women’s road race but competed in the keirin and the sprint – which require a different type of bike – at short notice.
Things then crystalised with Team Nigeria coming short of winning medals at the finals, including Chukwuebuka Enekwechi’s sixth-place finish in the men’s Shot Put, Favour Ofili’s sixth-place finish in the women’s 200m event, and Samuel Ogazi’s seventh-place finish in the men’s 400m final.
Tobi Amusan, world record holder in 100m hurdles and Nigeria’s flag bearer at the 2024 Olympics, failed to make it to the final. The same sad tale followed Ese Brume, Africa and Commonwealth Long Jump Queen.
The Super Falcons, returning to women’s Olympic football after 16 years, failed to make an impact, equaling their worst Olympics record set in 2008, losing their first two matches before a 3-1 loss in the final game.
Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, was the shining light, making history by reaching the quarter-finals, a feat no African team (male or female) had achieved in an Olympic tournament. The team recorded two wins, a significant improvement from previous African teams, which had only one win in 37 games played in the women’s tournament. To add to the team’s strides, Coach Rene Wakama won the International Basketball Federation’s Best Female Basketball Coach at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Nigeria’s lackluster performance is not for lack of talent. After all, in this same Olympics, 11 athletes of Nigerian descent who competed in the colours of Spain, France, Germany, US, Bahrain, Britain, Australia, and Italy won 11 medals – four gold, four silver and three bronze.
We at Daily Trust believe that our challenge is the leadership required to harness the abundance of talents. Therefore, the time to begin the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is now, beginning with taking a second look at the nation’s sports industry, especially the structure and leadership. There must be deliberate policies, design, templates and implementation strategies towards winning medals.
We also advocate for resuscitation of tertiary education sports which used to serve as training ground into national teams. In the past, the Nigeria School Sports Federation was introduced by the Federal Ministry of Education with the sole responsibility of undertaking the developing and promoting sports at the grassroots – primary and secondary schools. Like all things government, it has gone into limbo.
At the tertiary level, the effectiveness of Nigeria University Games Association (NUGA), Nigeria Polytechnic Games Association (NIPOGA) and the Nigeria College of Education Games Association (NCEGA) which have lost their lure should be reactivated as a recruitment platform for Team Nigeria.
Moreover, the negligent attitude of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, which led to non-registration or payment of athletes must never happen again.
There should be early training and preparation for the next Games, sustained government and private sector funding of infrastructure development, funding and professionalism.
We note the profound apology of the Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, who apologised for the puzzling “underwhelming performance” of Team Nigeria, stating that “we owe Nigerians an explanation.”
Stating that “preparations for the Olympics, which was less than a year away, had not started by the time he took office by August 2023, Enoh said that the right things were done. The Minister pledged a comprehensive “review process and a proper evaluation of the competition readiness of every athlete” in the future.
He then promised to “turn the disastrous outcome of the 2024 Olympics to a huge positive for Nigerian sports”.
We hope he will keep to his word as Nigerians look forward to future Olympics devoid of obstacles of bureaucratic shoddiness, shabby and late preparations and fire brigade approach, epileptic government and private sector investment and support inhibiting an Olympic glory. We have the population and the talents. Sports leaders must never again deliver medal-barren Olympic outings.
