Nigeria’s disastrous Paris 2024 outing

SPORTS-LOVING Nigerians had high hopes for Team Nigeria’s 19th appearance at the Olympics Games which rounded off on Sunday, August 18 after 16 days of intense jostle for medals, but their hopes were dashed. At the 2020 edition of the games in Tokyo, Japan, Nigeria had only managed to win two medals, neither of them gold, but Paris 2024 was a disaster of epic proportions despite the N9 billion approved by the Presidency for the games. Nigeria paraded 88 athletes but Paris 2024 ended up being its worst outing since London 2012. Notable medal prospects like Blessing Oborodudu, Ese Brume, Odunayo Adekuoroye, Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofilli and Haruna Quadri failed to live up to billing. And, as usual, Nigeria’s campaign was dented by controversies: Ofili’s name was inexplicably omitted from the women’s 100 meters roster for which she had qualified, there was chaos over kitting crisis as athletes had two kits separately supplied by the Athletes Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the National Olympic Committee (NOC), and some athletes were disqualified over alleged doping and lane violations.  After Amusan’s failure, Hannah Reuben was the last athlete left to salvage a medal for Nigeria but she lost her second round fight in the women’s freestyle wrestling 76 by 5-2 to Mongolia’s Davannasan Armah Enkh. Only the female basketball team, D’Tigress, gave Nigerians cause for cheer: the Rene Wakama-tutored side earned plaudits for reaching the quarter finals of the women’s basketball tournament, the first for an African team in Olympics basketball.

Not surprisingly, Nigeria’s dismal outing has been linked to a number of factors. Former Director-General, National Sports Commission (NSC), Alhasan Yakmut, questioned the quality of preparations for the games. He said: “If you are competing against the best in the world, your preparation should also be the best. This is why Nigeria has no medal.” On his part, an ex-Nigerian boxer Ikechukwu Okoronkwo, berated the coaching quality available in the country, urging the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and other stakeholders to begin preparations immediately for the Los Angeles 2028 Games. Of course, the NOC tried to rehabilitate the sad situation. Said its president, Habu Gumel: “The athletes demonstrated exceptional dedication during the Games, earning eight placement diplomas for their performances.” Nonetheless, it acknowledged the need to “analyse the root causes of our shortcomings and revisit fundamental principles.” It could actually begin its analysis from the suggestion by a prominent sports figure, Chief Donatus Agu-Ejidike, that the National Assembly and other relevant authorities should launch a forensic probe into Team Nigeria’s shambolic performance. Said Agu-Ejidike: “There were occasions in the past when Nigeria participated in the Olympics without a medal. For Team Nigeria, the 2024 Olympic Games, where everything that could go wrong went wrong, was a replication of Helsinki1952, Melbourne 1956, Rome 1960, Mexico 1968, Moscow 1980, Seoul 1988 and London 2012.” The sports pillar could not fathom such a terrible outing at this contemporary time with the world as a global village, liberal  access to modern training techniques, and with the majority of the athletes representing Nigeria being based abroad where facilities abound.

Although he apologised to Nigerians for the performance that “obviously fell short of our objectives, expectations, and the hopes of Nigerians,” the Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh,  exonerated officialdom. His words: “Our target was to re-enact the Atlanta 1996 performance or even improve on it. To this end, we embarked on a progressive approach to drive forward the performance of our athletes and coaches. In my first week in office, I requested all National Sports Federations furnish me with plans and programmes. I also embarked on a nationwide inspection of our sports facilities. In all these, the President and Commander in Chief of the Federation, HE Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ensured that funds were not a limiting factor. Athletes’ competition requirements were provided, allowances were paid early, and training grants were disbursed to all athletes. I made myself readily available to deal with any issue throughout the competition. Therefore, the underwhelming performance of our team is puzzling.”

There is apparently a connection between Nigeria’s politics and its sports performance. Throwing money at a sports competition in the face of bleak socioeconomic indices certainly didn’t help Nigeria. And apparently, even with the massive budget of N9 billion, preparations for the games were shoddy. The avoidable kitting and fielding problems, as in the case of Ofili, could certainly have been avoided. And the allegedly high number of the officials that attended the games on Nigeria’s bill definitely says a lot about the bazaar that games always provide for certain privileged Nigerians. The NOC not cross-checking Ofili’s name properly with the organisers of the Olympics is only typical.

Well, Minister Enoh is, by his own admission, “looking forward to the Paralympic Games, Paris 2024 (August 28–September 8).”  But it is ex-boxer Okoronkwo that points the way forward:  “There are ways to raise international champions. The mindset, readiness, passion and vision must come from athletes and the federations.” Here’s golden advice for the authorities. Will it be taken?

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