The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria’s athletes returned home without a single medal for the eight time in the country’s Olympic history, as Team Nigeria concluded its Paris 2024 Olympic campaign.
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games was a replication of the 1952 Helsinki, the 1956 Melbourne, the 1960 Rome, the 1968 Mexico, the 1980 Moscow, the 1988 Seoul and the London 2012.
A cross section of sports enthusiasts who spoke to NAN on Tuesday in Abuja, lamented the lack of podium finish for any of the registered athletes in their respective events.
They said that there was a need for a thorough investigation into everything that transpired at the Games, right from its inception to the end.
Nigeria’s Pillar of Sports, Donatus Agu-Ejidike called on the National Assembly, and other relevant government authorities to launch a forensic probe into Team Nigeria’s shambolic performance at the Games.
This according to him would enable decision makers harvest the necessary information that would guide them on how to avert a repeat in future.
The Anambra-born Sports philanthropist also lamented the administrative ineptitude that led to the omission of some athletes who were before the games, medal prospects.
He stressed that, there was the need for a comprehensive probe to unravel the identity of “who failed to do what”, that denied Ofili the opportunity she had spent years of hardwork preparing for.
He also recalled with regret, the number of athletes of Nigerian descent who, due to the administrative laxity in Nigeria, switched allegiance to represent, and won medals for other countries at the quadrennial event.
“The most painful of them all is Annette Echikunwoke who suffered the same fate as Ofili in Tokyo, wanting to represent Nigeria three years ago.
“She, as a result of the chronic administrative ineptitude that characterises sports administration in Nigeria, switched her international allegiance to U.S., and this time around, she won a silver medal in Hammer Throw.
“Yemisi Ogunleye, another Nigerian by origin, won gold for Germany in Shot Put, and the list goes on and on,” he said.
The Nnewi-born former President of the Karate Federation of Nigeria (KFN) described the performance of Team Nigeria at the event as “shambolic, and unacceptable.
He insisted that those involved must probed, considering the country’s pedigree in the comity of sporting nations globally
“This is coupled with the over ₦12 billion the Federal Government released for the prosecution of the Games.
“How was the money spent that it never impacted our medal fortunes through performance?
“Who was responsible for the non-registration of Favour Ofili for the women’s 100m event?
“How come, nobody raised an alarm, when the list of registered athletes, without her name, came out?
“Why were the D’Tigresses denied entry to the venue of the opening ceremony?” he queried.
These, according to him, are some of the salient questions that needs to be answered by the people in charge.
He, however, praised the individual athletes, saying that, Nigerians noticed and appreciated their efforts, which were never complemented by the administrators.
He singled out the national women basketball team, the D’Tigress, for a special commendation for making it to the quarter finals – a feet never achieved by any African country, male or female.
He also lamented the culture of those running sports in Nigeria, populating the Nigerian contingent with their cronies and relatives – people who have nothing to contribute to the running of the affairs of team Nigeria.
He described it as unfortunate, and called for an end to such a despicable habit, if Nigeria must avoid this type of abysmal outing at any international meet.
“Sports federations’ officials while doing their jobs must do away with the mindset that they are doing the athletes a favour.
“They need to know that, without the athletes, there would be no need for their office and their presence in Paris,” he said.
Sports Entrepreneur and Chairman Gombe State Athletics Association, Ahmed Gara-Gombe, on his part, called on President Bola Tinubu to sack the Sports Minister.
He said this was as a result of the exclusion of top athlete Ofili from the 100m event and the poor performance of Team Nigeria at the Paris Olympic Games, describing it as a National embarrassment.
Gara-Gombe told NAN that the president must impose serious sanctions on the Sports Minister, the NOC President, Habu Gumel and the AFN president, Tonobok Okowa as deterant for future abuse of office.
“Favour Ofili not listed for the 100m event and the overall performance of Team Nigeria at the Olympics was most unfortunate.
“It is a serious embarrassment to our nation, an also to Mr. President and all sports stakeholders,” he said.
He said that he was aware of the initial reactions from the Minister of Sports and also had read the statement and reactions on his X handle, insisting that he did not expect such statements from a Minister.
“The negligence, inefficiency, and the corruption that has eaten deep into Nigerian sports are the root cause of this.
“The Sports Minister unfortunately, has promoted corruption in the sports sector, that’s why we find ourselves in this mess in AFN.
“Since the Minister took office, he has refused to listen to those who would tell him the truth and the true situations in Nigeria Sports,” he said.
Godwin Bamigboye, the National Coordinator of the Association of Football Administrators in Nigeria (AFAN), on his part, said that the sports federations were poorly funded and managed.
Bamigboye stressed that politics has been allowed to prevail over common sense and merit in appointments to federation boards, excluding the passionate.
He said preparations for major tournaments were wishy-washy, adding that most national competitions, including the National Sports Festival (NSF), had become a shadow of their past.
“The worst is the appointment of novices as sports ministers. The fault lies at the door of the Presidents since 1999.
“They use sports to reward politicians instead of appointing capable administrators. This does not need money, just wisdom.
“President Bola Tinubu can return Nigeria to its halcyon days. In the Barcelona ’92 Games, Nigeria had two finalists in the men’s and one in the women’s 100m.
“With 7.12m, Chioma Ajunwa gave Nigeria its first athletics gold at Atlanta ’96. The U23 team beat Argentina to the gold in the ’96 Games and a silver at Beijing 2008,” he said.
He added that the NSF must be revived and the national meets in athletics, table tennis, basketball, handball, volleyball, and others restored.
Isaiah Benjamin, The President, Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) has described the performance of Team Nigeria at the 2024 Olympic Games as far below expectations.
Benjamin attributed the massive failure of the country in Paris to largely administrative incompetence and negligence which were obvious.
This was after Nigeria’s highly rated Track and Field Athlete, Favour Ofili’s name was found missing from the list of those meant to compete in the 100m event.
He wondered why so many promises of medal haul were dished out by the Sports authorities when they were very much aware that there was nothing on ground, including the level of preparation to guarantee a podium performance.
“Before the Games, Nigerians were meant to believe that all was well.
“The Sports Ministry kept assuring that the performance of Nigeria at 2024 Olympics would surpass the country’s best ever outing at the Atlanta 1996 edition.
“The entire media fraternity in Nigeria was equally surprised to hear that the reason Nigeria didn’t perform optimally in Paris was due to lack of preparation by the various Sports Federations.
“This is as it has now been exposed that the Federations only focused on ensuring that their athletes qualified for the Olympics but did nothing to prepare them for Olympics performance,” he said.
The SWAN boss also said that the result from Paris goes to show that so much needed to be done that were not put in place.
He said this was in spite of the huge amount of tax payers money that was made available by the federal government just for participation only.
“This circle has to be put to a stop because it is now obvious that Nigeria’s Sports needs a breath of fresh air.
“It is a well known fact that sporting talents abound in Nigeria but the management of these talents leaves so much to be desired.
“In the past and even at the just concluded Olympics, Nigerians, some of them who had competed for Nigeria, switched allegiance to other countries and did so well to win medals,” he said.
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