IS NIGERIA INTO SERIOUS SPORTS DEVELOPMENT?
History holds important lessons for Nigeria on sports, argues ANDREW A. ERAKHRUMEN
Organised sporting activities tend to mimic some real life occurrences and human responses, or is it the reverse? Sports mean different things, occupy different spaces and serve different purposes, in different person’s life and living. Sports may be underrated but many among them have assumed somewhat larger than life statuses. We do not want to run into controversy; so, we leave it at that to focus on some athletes. The last Olympic Games in Paris, France, had its opening and closing ceremonies on July 26th and August 11th, 2024, respectively. The contingent that represented Nigeria at the Games was unable to bring home a medal! Not a medal was won at Paris! One may not win, sometimes; that is sport! When you win, do enjoy the associated good and work harder to stay atop but if it does not go as planned, return to the drawing board! That is the way to go! Certainly, we wanted medals for our athletes but became unhappy when undue pressure was mounted on some of them at the Games. This is because we were not oblivious of some negative undercurrents that might have eventually contributed to the shoddy outing at the Games.
In this light, sport enthusiasts and pundits opined that Nigeria went on usual jamboree to squander about N12billion on a fruitless project! In the midst of the hullabaloo caused by the alleged unproductiveness, the then minister of sports and youth development, Senator John Owan Enoh, set up a seven-member investigative committee to address “….the organisational failures that affected the country’s athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics… [leading] to the omission of Favour Ofili at the 100-metre event for Nigeria [and]…Ese Ukpeseraye, who had to borrow a bike from her German counterparts to represent Nigeria in a cycling event.” Giving its report, the committee believes that it is “….very mindful not to WRONGLY INDICT anyone on the basis of conflicting inconclusive evidence”. Therefore, it states, based on “conclusive evidence…that the Secretary General of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Mrs. Rita Mosindi, was NEGLIGENT in her duty of communicating to the Ministry of Sports Development and the Nigeria Olympic Committee information about Favour Ofili’s event status in a reliable and timely manner. [Consequently,] Mrs. Mosindi should be PENALISED by the appropriate authority…..”
Furthermore, “…..conclusive evidence also revealed that the Technical Director of AFN, Mr. Samuel Onikeku, demonstrated POOR JUDGEMENT by not reporting nor acting on the information about the non-registration of his own athlete, Favour Ofili, for the women’s 100 metres
event when he first got a “hint” of the “rumour”. Ofili’s situation might have been rescued if the Technical Director had reported or acted immediately on the information that he received. [Thus,] Mr. Onikeku should be SANCTIONED by the Board of which he is a member….[Hence,] AFN by vicarious implication should pay the athlete, Favour Ofili, a symbolic compensation of N8million only (about $5,000) for the disappointment and depression that she suffered on account of her omission from the women’s 100 metres event…..[whereas] the cyclist, Ese Ukpeseraye, should write a FORMAL APOLOGY to the Nigeria Cycling Federation (NCF) for the embarrassment that she caused the Federation and the Nigerian contingent to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on account of the unauthorised post that she made on social media X (Formerly Twitter) about the bicycle that she used for the cycling track event at the Olympics….” Other findings and recommendations exist in that Olympics investigation committee’s report under reference. As asked in pidgin, “na today”? We have heard similar things in the past! The above-mentioned unfortunate events and names were merely used as a metaphor in describing some of the rottenness in Nigeria’s sport sector!
Well now, is it not sensible for a serious country to have started preparations for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics? Nigeria is noted for its expertise in “fire brigade” approach to almost everything! Why, then, should we be wondering that things kept nose-diving for the country? What do we expect from poverty-ravaged mindset? Success does not just happen without diligence but if it does by happenstance, surely it is almost always unsustainable! There are examples in aspects of our national life! Like it is commonly said: failing to plan is tantamount to planning to fail! We remember the 1980s/1990s when athletes from Caribbean countries like Jamaica, the Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, were giving established and famous athletes that included those from countries like (East) Germany, USA, USSR, etc., a run for their money on the tracks. Those “unknown” countries in athletics were collectively perceived, then, as a flash in the pan! What an absolute incorrectness because by the late 1990s/early 2000s, some phenomena not seen coming emerged from Jamaica on the sprinting tracks! One of these sprinters is Usain St. Leo Bolt (Usain Bolt). Please, this opinion should not be perceived as an attempt at disrespecting other great athletes, too numerous to mention, such as Jesse Owens (1913–1980), Florence Griffith Joyner (1959–1998), Carl Lewis, Innocent Egbunike, Sunday Bada (1969–2011) Chioma Ajunwa, just to mention a few. Rather, it is to stress the value of sound planning, focus and consistency in sports – by forward-thinking people.
All the mentioned and unmentioned athletes in this article are doubtlessly great in their various ways. They all have track records; for example, by examining the earlier races Usain Bolt participated in, one should observe that it was not by chance that, after a disappointing showing at the 2004 Athens Olympics owing to injury, he was able to later break the 100m sprint world record (WR) setting a new one of 9.72 seconds at a Grand Prix meet in New York in 2008. The WR (before Bolt’s 9.72 seconds) was 9.74 seconds held by Asafa Powell (also a Jamaican). At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Bolt went ahead to break his WR (of 9.72 seconds) to set a new one of 9.69 seconds, winning gold in the 100m finals. On August 16, 2009, Usain Bolt, at the World Athletics Championships (WAC) in Berlin, again, broke his 9.69 seconds WR in 100m sprint by 0.11 seconds, to set another with a time of 9.58 seconds; a WR that has not been broken as at the time of writing this piece! The following were some of the spoken words by ecstatic commentators on that day: “….. 9.58! Smashing the world record! Unbelievable! He’s done it again a year later rewriting the world record again! That’s the most incredible piece of sprinting the world has ever seen! Absolutely breathtaking! He didn’t just break his world record, he absolutely shattered it! Is there anything this man is not capable of? We’ve just seen something that’s just remarkable….”
Bolt also set two other, yet unbroken, WRs of: 19.19 seconds in 200m at the same 2009 WAC in Berlin and 36.84 seconds in men’s 4x100m relay done with Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and Yohan Blake at the 2012 London Olympic Games. This piece is not only about athletes’ feats but to also remind people about the importance of encouraging needed support for, and excellence in, sports. This reminder is specifically meant for the irresponsible, useless and shameless people in some official capacities deliberately contributing to the degeneration of Nigerian sports! Today, it is clear that Jamaica is a force to reckon with in track and field events. Their achievements there have not been by wishful thinking! They worked hard, were focused and gave support to athletes. In the just concluded 2024 Paris Olympic Games, it took a dramatic photo finish to determine the gold medallist in the 100m men’s final between USA’s Noah Lyles (9.784 seconds) and Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson (9.789 seconds). Lyles took the victory by 0.005 seconds! Fred Kerley won bronze in 9.81 seconds! Thompson is a Jamaican to watch out for on the tracks. All we have been talking about, here, are historical events. We expect those events to be learnt from and encourage stakeholders in Nigeria’s sports development toward excellence. History is always readily available to teach serious learners on how to avoid pitfalls of the past but can also brutally punish people by repeating its negative forms if not learnt from! A word is enough for the wise.
Prof. Erakhrumen teaches at the Department of Forest Resources and Wildlife Management, University of Benin, Benin City
