HERO WITH ZERO

By Enefiok Udo-Obong

Nigerians were treated to a spectacle at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. As each day passed by, Blessing Oborududu became an instant hero with her steady and skillful way of fighting that a lot of viewers started calling herAmalinze the cat (thanks to Chinua Achebe’s classic Things Fall Apart). She always jogged battle ready like a combatant into the fighting arena and showed each time she was being introduced to fight. With each fight, she outscored her opponents easily earning technical knockouts. The hopes of millions of expectant viewers rose each day on her as our hopes for medals waned in many other sports as the Games progressed. And she delivered. She won the silver medal (our highest Medal at the Tokyo Games) losing to America’s Tamyra Mensah-Stock in the finals thus becoming the first Nigerian to win an Olympic medal in wrestling.

Despite the shock and relief in equal measure at Oborududu winning Nigeria’s solitary Silver medal at the Olympics in Tokyo (The other medal was won by Ese Brume-a bronze medal in the Long Jump), she has not been generally unknown. She has won a gold medal at the African Wrestling Championships every year for the last 11 years, except for 2012 when she did not enter due to competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She won the bronze medal in the women’s middleweight at the 2014 Commonwealth Games after defeating Chloe Spiteri in her bronze medal match and upgraded the medal to a gold medal at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. So for the better part of a decade, she has been a colossus in world freestyle wrestling.

So why has such a great champion been relatively unknown to Nigerians and why after such a heroic feat at the Olympics is she not celebrated nationally, endorsed by big corporations and branded as a great role model to young girls? Where is the dollar rain that usually comes to people that achieve this type of success?

We have seen people of less worthy achievements become ambassadors for organizations in Nigeria. We know how some telecom companies throw millions at some young ladies for just appearing on TV as actresses or even less talent required appearances like Big Brother? Why would someone that portrays determination, hard work, focus, single-minded goals, strength and patriotism not be an instant bride to organizations that have these as part of their core values?

This question was posed by a sports lover online and Nigerian came up with different views. A lot of people postulated that she does not represent the vulgarity of sex and that is why she has no endorsement in the male dominated corporate world. She does not ‘twerk’ online, her appearance has no sex appeal (euphemism for not having big breasts and an over rounded buttocks). In a country where morality is slowly fading from the community, a lot of people agree that if she were having sex publicly on TV like some do in Big Brother, she would have had lots of money and endorsements already.

In an industry where great champions make millions of dollars off the field of play, Nigerian sports men and women get nothing. Let us look at some ladies worldwide in other climes. Simone Biles, an American gymnast and Olympian earns at least $5 million annually in endorsements, according to Forbes estimates, and has a dozen partners: Athleta, SK-II skin care products, Visa, United Airlines, Mondelez’s Oreo brand, Core Power fitness shakes, Candid teeth aligners, GK Elite gymnastics apparel, Spieth America gymnastics equipment, Uber Eats, MasterClass and Facebook Watch. Alex Morgan, an American soccer player, has more than a dozen current sponsors, including Nike, Coca-Cola KO -0.3%, Volkswagen and AT&T. Her latest is an Alex Morgan Barbie Doll, as part of the brand’s Role Model Series. Katie Ladecky (swimming) earns over 3 million dollars a year in endorsements and Sue Bird (Basketball) over a million dollars a year. This is not adding the big earners like Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams who both earn over 27 million dollars a year in endorsements alone.

Three days after shocking the world and winning the US open, 18-year-old tennis star, Emma Raducanu, got her first endorsement, an ambassador for the iconic Tiffany and Co jewelry store where she will earn close to 10 million dollars. In fact, sponsorship and PR experts have predicted Emma Raducanu could earn up to £1billion across her career – with many big-name brands circling after her US Open win.

So why aren’t our Nigerian successful athletes recognized by our Nigerian companies? Why do our female athletes not get any endorsements? (The male footballers like Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Jay jay Okocha, Odion Ighalo have attracted some brands.) Brand endorsements would go a long way of inspiring younger ones to take up the sports and stop some other vices they may go into.

Do we put the blame on the athletes? Some criticize them of not being educated enough, or savvy or lacking of business acumen. Do we blame the sports journalists that do not expose them enough? Or write about their stories? Do we blame the corporate organizations that feel sports and sports people are just charity cases? Who do not see value in the hours of hard work it takes to be a champion? Do we blame sports managers or brand managers? Who do not see these people are worthy of a brand and feel women need to appear in a particular non-sporty way to look attractive to brands. Do we blame an ignorant public? Who cheer these girls during the big competitions and careless of what they go through and how they do so once the competition is over.

The problems would not be solved with a magic wand but the fact remains that Blessing Oborududu and Ese Brume our only medalists at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games may be heroes to us all but have nothing in cash to show for it for now.