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| The London 2012 Logo and the Medals at Stake |
The Olympics have come and gone, at least
until 2016, but Nigeria’s dismal showing is one that has called to question
once again the thorny issue of patriotism. The Olympics is a quadrennial event
that serves as a meeting point for elite athletes (for most sports) to
compete and aspire to win. Realistically, with about 11,000 sportsmen and
sportswomen competing in 302 events, not all athletes will make it to the
podiums, but for most that do not, it would still have been a good show. Let us
be honest with ourselves, we did not deserve a medal at the Olympics, and
getting one would have been a travesty and a rape on hard work and preparation.
But in dissecting this woeful performance, everyone involved must not be lumped
together, the wheat and the chaff needs to be separated so to each we give its
own. The roles of Administrators,
Sportsmen and Sportswomen, and Sponsors in this national disgrace have to be
assessed individually.
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| The Joy of Great Female Olympians who did themselves and their countries proud at London 2012 |
The Nigerian athletes must be commended for
having the patriotism and courage to line up and compete against those athletes
from USA, China, GB, Russia, South Korea, Germany, France, Italy, Hungary and
Australia who had been preparing for the London 2012 Games from earlier than
Beijing 2008; who had prompt and sufficient funding from their respective
governments and corporate sponsors alike; who benefited from public sports
institutions where they could train with the best equipment and facilities; who
had access to the best trainers, physiotherapists, doctors, nutritionists and
sports psychologists; who were highly motivated for personal and national
pride; who were treated like ambassadors/envoy of their countries which they
were in reality. Little wonder they were always happy to flaunt their national
flags upon achieving success. Of course, we have all heard about the N2.3
Billion spent on the Olympics by the NOC, but we heard about the N1 Trillion
spent on Fuel Subsidy too, didn’t we?
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| The Joy of Great Male Olympians who did themselves and their countries proud at London 2012 |
With speed that will challenge Usain
Bolt’s, the Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi called a Press
Conference and solemnly informed us all that “TEAM NIGERIA HAS FAILED” - as if that was
breaking news. He raved, rambled, and ranted, but in the midst of the entire
rabble, I was able to unearth these action plans:
1. Identify five sports that give us competitive opportunities.
2. Restructure the Federations of these Sports to make them more democratic, accountable and
efficient.
3. Develop a
Sports Calendar that will ensure year-round sports activities both within and
outside the schools.
4. Initiate strategic
engagement with the private sector with the aim to improve funding for sports.
5. Strengthen
our coaching and training capabilities by developing strategic partnership with
national and international bodies.
These action
plans are laudable and commendable, in all honesty we couldn’t have asked for
more, but it will not draw any applause from me because this is year 2012, and
this is not what we should be discussing. This is what, like in other
countries, should have been done ages ago, and the result we should have been
reaping for some time now. Another reason I am not filled with optimism is
because this is a well-worn path after every sporting failure, we are fond of
coming back to the “drawing board”, reviewing the performance and coming up
with “blueprints” and “white papers” to forestall a recurrence, only to repeat
the cycle after the next avoidable disappointment.
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| The only time the Nigerian flag was held aloft |
Naturally, just as we are late bloomers in almost everything, we are also slow to realize that sports goes beyond recreation. Sports is not just about winning medals and setting records, it is an avenue for national glorification and global recognition. The global media will always stick to the norm of "bad news is good news" and "if it bleeds, it leads", but with commendable performances on the tracks, fields, and pools, each country can tell its own story in its own words. The battle for supremacy among the USA, China, GB and Russia was there to see and that should tell us sports goes beyond mere running and jumping. Excelling in sports will surely put a country in the spotlight with everybody to see in real-time the positives that comes out of the country - Sports is an avenue to flaunt Patriotism and Nationalism. Now that the Minister of Sports have realized that, we can only hope it is not just lip service but a real intention and determination to propel Nigerian sports forward.
Thank You!
God Bless Us All!!
See You Next Time!!!
You have spoken well. All they do is go back to the drawing board but they never 'draw' anything good out except to squander money meant for the good of sports in this country. Temmy
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