OptimiSing Nigeria’s Olympic Outings

Nigeria needs to fix sports management, facilities and the reward system, argues AYODELE OKUNFOLAMI

As the flames went off on the XXXIII Olympiad, participating teams returned home introspecting their performances. Botswana not only declared a public holiday after Letsile Tebogo returned with the men’s 200m but also gave its Olympians a motorcade reception at the national stadium and I won’t be surprised if Saint Lucia builds a statue to honour Julien Alfred who won the small Caribbean nation’s first ever Olympic medals. While Jamaica and Ethiopia will have to reexamine their disastrous outings in the sprints and the long distance races respectively, Nigerians should not only ask questions but question the answers on

how a nation of our size, pedigree and history will return with no medals.

Now, measuring sporting success is relative. In some instances, South Sudan that has no single indoor court, united its 40 plus tribes as if they landed on the moon despite crashing out in the preliminary basketball round whereas world number one, Iga Swiatek, returning to Poland with bronze in women’s single tennis was upsetting. Hence, there are many ways to post mortem Nigeria’s Paris Party.

Beginning with the size of our Olympic team, Nigeria is too big a nation to go with only 88 athletes. I am aware that one would have to go through competitive qualifiers by the various sporting bodies to have slots nevertheless, this reflects how Nigeria treats sports and general youth empowerment because I see no reason why we should not be representing Africa especially in team sports. Brazil, Argentina and Egypt that have similar economic trajectory and demographics always feature in volleyball, handball, basketball, football, field hockey and other team sports. What this implies is that these countries have functional domestic leagues or at least collegiate competitions that engage their youths enough to recruit for their national teams.

Progressive civilisations put a premium on sports and that was manifested on the size of their parade boats  along the Seine at the first of its kind out-of-stadium opening ceremony and the eventual medals table. Despite not being the hosts that had the privilege of automatic places for all the events available, Team USA had the largest presence with 594 athletes partaking in more than 30 sports. Quantity has its own quality because the more chances we give ourselves the more likely we are to succeed. So depriving Favour Ofili from optimizing her six-year preparation to avoid burnout is pedestrian. It was the same games that Sifan Hassan ran four races totaling over 4okm yet podiuming with a gold and two bronzes.

Getting a larger vessel to usher us into future Olympics will require Nigeria reviving preexisting sports and venturing into unorthodox territory. We have a history in combat sports and they are relatively cheap to setup. All those hoodlums used by politicians to disrupt elections, illegally collect traffic tolls, counter protests and end up attacking Orile-bound BRT bus can be more productive to themselves and the society if taken off the streets, trained and employed as competitors or spars that fans can bet on them, watch weekly and end up representing the nation. Contrary to pattern, an Algerian became the first African to win gold in artistic gymnastics. East and Southern Africans that are more long distance known are taking the sprints away from Nigeria and Ghana. My point is, while we consolidate on our track strengths, we can stretch ourselves into longer distances and field events. The climate and topography of the north suits camping out-of-school children to drop their begging bowls in exchange for running spikes to be trained marathoners. All the youths of the Niger Delta need is coaching and Nigeria will add swimming to its Olympic portfolio. Although, there are awkward sports like horse dancing, the Olympics are globalizing to include breakdancing and I bet you, the worst Nigerian dancer will do better than that Australian in Paris. If our girls could well in basketball, it means we can do well in 3×3. It is a matter of maximizing our human and natural resources.

Unfortunately, with schools sports a thing of the past, playgrounds turned into housing estates without jogging or cycling paths, and prisons without sports facilities, I can as well keep this article for republication after Los Angeles 2028.

A societal and cultural revolution needs to take place for Nigeria to be called a sporting nation, we have to do something drastic about sports administration. Because sports success is a function of individual will and a supportive society.

Worse than having political jobbers across board ignorant of the sporting federation they head, is that they not only lack basic administrative acumen but are unable to connect with the needs of the athletes under their care. Ofili’s issue was messier because asides being a repeated case of negligence, she only realized she had been omitted from the 100m a few days to the event.

We saw how other countries flag embraced their athletes as ours were left orphaned. What were the administrators doing in Paris? Sherika Jackson pulled out of the 100m and was replaced by another Jamaican to take her place. How come Ofili wasn’t restored to compete? America is doing all to get the bronze stripped them by Romania in gymnastics while Kenya contested and regained within minutes the silver striped them at the 5000m women. I am yet to understand why our 4x400m men were denied a place in the finals they had qualified for. All I can deduce is that our administrators don’t care about our athletes enough to even kit them properly or provide bicycle to compete. Do they follow up athletes’ individual training regimes or just call them up for competitions? This is how Annette Echikunwoke that dumped Nigeria three years ago to win silver in the women’s hammer throw summarised, “Being with the US, feeling cared for as an athlete, I really performed on top of my game.”

Moving forward, John Enoh, the Sports Minister, had apologized for the abysmal showing and has suggested reforms of our federations. However, he shouldn’t be sounding helpless on tv and radio. As a member of the federal executive council, he should bring up proposals and policies with presidential backing that should change the sporting structure he goes whining about. As a former Senator, he can send his proposals to the national assembly so that they become law.

Truly, it is beyond the Sports Minister and the changes won’t immediately yield results but we can start somewhere. Let me suggest.

Number one, government should hands off professional sports completely so that each of the federations will run independently as business entities. With this, federations should be legally reconstituted to be autonomous. Also, they can operate as they deem fit in accordance to their various affiliated international governing bodies and individual local aspirations. It doesn’t help that all federations all have elections at the same time in quadrennial cycles annually waiting for budget to be passed.

Moreover the high turnover of leadership in these federations punctuates long term plans making lessons learnt from previous Olympics to be carried out or aborted by a different set of leadership. This seeming job insecurity only makes those at the helm to mark time giving only their bare minimum until their term expires.

Ironically, countries that have functional refineries don’t have petroleum ministers; similarly, nations that top the medals table don’t have sports ministers. Even Enoh struggled in his interviews not to portray his job as unnecessary. I have in a previous article suggested that Sports, Youth Development and Culture be departments under the Ministry of Education.

Now to funding and rewards. Unfortunately, only World Athletics rewards its gold medalists with $50,000. There are no price monies for participating at the Olympics. This implies athletes only have to rely on sponsors, commercial endorsements and grants from their individual nations to get by. That is why I suggested that elite sports like football, athletics, basketball and a few others be yanked off the red tapism of government to take advantage of the market to self-generate income in the manner the entertainment industry is. This would not only free government to fund other important sectors of society, these sports would instead generate revenue for the economy and finance their amateur cadres. The other sports whose makeup makes them unable to enjoy the oxygen of publicity of blue ribbon sports would either get remits from the bigger sports or government effectively gives them stipends.

Great Britain is among four countries that don’t reward their Olympians nevertheless, they are effectively funded in and out of season. The National Lottery has donated about a billion pounds in the past decade in support of Team GB. Nigerians are cashing out from the vibrant betting industry. I propose that a bill be passed that a certain fraction of all betting units be sent to a central purse to help fund sports in Nigeria. If we can find money for student loan we can for sports. Nigeria spent $7.6 million for the Paris Olympics. Comparing it with the annual $2 billion profit of the Nigerian sports betting industry, betting can channel the monies they are putting on reality shows to fund our sports if only the environment permits.

In conclusion, Olympics is not about medal glory but more importantly waged on representing the flag. What Nigeria needs to better our outings is to fix sports management, facilities and the reward system. Investment in sports and our prodigiously youth population, then no matter our medal count, future Olympics would be festivals where sportsmen will celebrate a nation having their backs.

 Okunfolami writes from

Festac, Lagos,

@ayookunfolami