ZAINAB-BAGUDU, ONE BIG SHOT AND AN OLYMPIC LESSON

 Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu is making a difference, reckons Joshua J. Omojuwa

I’ve got a theory on how to tell whether a country works. The First Traffic Light theory. When you visit a country for the first time, if the airport is new, so it is hard to tell whether it is a country that really cares about order and aesthetics. However, you’d be able to tell from the professionalism of the airport officials. I’d say the first way to tell if a country works is from the professionalism of its border officials. That could be a one-off signal. Do a two factor authentication; when you get to the first traffic light, pay attention to what happens. If the vehicles obey the light, you are welcome to a sane country. If not, you are welcome anyway.

With Nigeria, there are many ways to understand why we appear to fall short on many fronts. Take Annette Echikunwoke. She put in the work; throwing sessions, lifting practises, mental preparation and everything an athlete competing in the hammer throw event at the Olympics needed to do. An American, she chose to represent Nigeria because of her parents.

Before the Tokyo Olympics, Annette became the first woman to break the 70m barrier on Nigerian soil. She smashed the African women record too, throwing 75.49m at the USATF Throws Festival in Arizona. She was a medal hopeful for Nigeria in Tokyo. Then, she wasn’t. Thanks to the officials at the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).

Annette Echikunwoke, Favour Ofili, Ruth Usoro, Yinka Ajayi, Tima Godless, Knowledge Omovoh, Chioma Onyekwere, Chidi Okezie, Glory Patrick and Rosemary Chukwuma were all disqualified from participating at the Tokyo Olympics by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) because the AFN failed to follow the testing protocol, a prerequisite for participation.

Favour Ofili returned to the Olympics in Paris this year, but the inefficiencies that stopped her participation at the previous Olympics was very much in place because she discovered that her name was missing on the start list for 100m. She missed out on that but got to compete in the 200m. She made the finals and finished 6th. There was no Nigerian official in sight to console the athlete who broke down after the race.

Unlike Favour, Annette did not return to the Olympics as a Nigerian athlete. Having switched from the colours of the United States to Nigeria initially, the shege she saw in the hands of Nigerian officials inspired another switch, back to the United States.

It worked out. Annette Nneka Echikunwoke became the first American woman to win a hammer throw Olympic medal.

Favour Ofili tweeted, “Tried to be mentally ready regardless of the shocking news I took few days back”. The shocking news was the Nigerian officials getting in her way, again, missing out on 100m participation. Anyone who knows how sports work knows that the disappointment from the 100m followed her to the 200m tracks. The margins on the track are so close, any emotional or mental weight could cost you a medal placement. Favour Ofili will feel it cost her. Will she switch allegiance? Would you blame her?

How is it that the officials who are meant to advance Nigeria’s best interest appear to be doing the opposite? Who is shocked by this? We’ve heard similar stories across various sectors and eras through our history. Annette taught us a lesson. I personally can’t bet on these officials learning anything. After all, they are there to ensure things do not go well. If that is not why they are there, they really must be overwhelmingly incompetent to consistently get the gold medal for incompetence in back-to-back games. I am sure they work hard; you’d bet they work hard on the wrong things.

Amidst these avoidable sad tales bordering on trusting the wrong people with important jobs, there are rare occasions when the country manages to fit the right pegs in the exact holes they were designed for. Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health & Social Welfare, Dr Muhammad Ali Pate was poached for that role by President Bola Tinubu. He is one of those rare ones who got sought out to come get a job done. It is no surprise that he decided to appoint Dr Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu (ZSB) as the Senior Advisor on women’s Health and Cancer Advocacy to the Coordinating Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

One of ZSB’s platforms, Walk Away Cancer, is Nigeria’s largest cancer fundraiser. It has helped to connect cancer patients, their caregivers and other stakeholders every year since 2014. It is one of the continent’s largest gatherings on cancer and has been referenced by the world’s major cancer organisations. Dr ZSB through the years has recruited some of Nigeria’s cultural leaders and biggest voices to help advance the cause of cancer control through her Medicaid platforms.

The Consultant Paediatrician has her footprints in the global advocacy against cancer. Elected to the board of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) in 2018, she convened stakeholders via the UICC platform to introduce the single-dose HPV vaccine to Nigeria in 2023. She was responsible for Kebbi State’s first Cancer Control Plan and helped to establish the Kebbi State Cancer Registry. The Indigent Patient Treatment Fund came to be, on the back of her work as First Lady, amidst several other health interventions.

Like the Olympics stories, Nigeria appears to have optimised an unyielding capacity to pick the wrong people for important jobs. When those who have earned the right to certain positions get it, it is reflected in their objective work done in the space they are trusted with. When the shoe fits, the wearer knows, the admirer sees it.

Australia’s Prof. Jeff Dunn AO’s presidency of the UICC ends this year. I do hope that Nigeria will advance the charge to lead that strategic organisation. If Dr Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu takes the baton from Prof Dunn AO, Nigeria can at least claim to have seen the light just a little earlier. Dr Pate landed an Olympic worthy shot. A rising tide will raise all boats, the right people change systems.

 Omojuwa is chief strategist, Alpha Reach/BGX Publishing