Sighs, hisses in sports as Nigeria clocks 52

By Tony Ubani
As Nigeria celebrates her 52nd Independence Anniversary today,  Minister of Sports and Chairman of National Sports Commission, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi has taken a cursory look at the country’s performance and passed a verdict of ‘’nothing to celebrate in sports 52 years after’’.

The Minister in a blunt but fair interview admitted that there was absolutely  nothing  to celebrate in sports in the 52 years of nationhood.

‘’You want to know if we have done well in the 52 years of our independence? No. I don’t think we have done well as much as we ought to”,  the youthful Minister said. He admitted that some individuals like Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Hogan ‘Kid’ Bassey, Richard ‘Dick Tiger’ Ihetu, Nojeem Maiyegun, Peter Konyegwachie, Chioma Ajunwa among others have done well but maintained that it was not enough to give a pass mark to the country in sports.

‘’No doubt, those individuals have done amazing things for fatherland, but that’s not enough’’. The Minister who judged Nigeria with her performance in the Olympics since independence said that it’s

been motion without movement for the largest populated black nation in the world.

“Since 1952 that Nigeria joined the Olympic movement, Nigeria has won only 23 medals. That is poor. A single athlete like Michael Phelps of the USA has won more medals than Nigeria.

Even at the London 2012 Olympics, one athlete won more medals than our country that did not win any medal of any colour. If we have organised our priorities in sports, we ought to have achieved more.

But as we enter the second half of the century, we should be asking questions of what have we been doing wrong. Since independence, we have won the African Cup of Nations only two times. That is poor. We have hosted the All Africa Games only two times.

We’ve not hosted the Commonwealth Games. And yet we pride ourselves as the giant of Africa when some lesser African countries have recorded more successes than Nigeria. That is not to disparage what we have done in the All Africa Games, Commonwealth Games, but the question remains, why have we not invested in the enormous resources at our disposal? “I don’t want to take defensive method of judging sports with other sectors in the country.

If we do that, we’ve done so well. But that is myopic. We’ve to aim higher and be the best, not limiting ourselves to comparative analysis with other sectors.

We did so well in Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games, but why have we not replicated the feat? Is there any template that one can fall back on from that feat? Unless we build a system that can be replicated, a strategic plan of achievement, we cannot say we have done well. And that is what I plan to do for Nigeria and for posterity. When I am not there as Minister, the next Minister can look at what we have done to build on it.

“The London 2012 Olympics was traumatising for me. I’ve put that behind me. But frankly, it has made me wiser and I have taken charge. I trusted people waiving many years of experience in sports. It’s a blessing in disguise.

Though we did not win medals, some athletes excelled breaking records, surpassing their personal bests. People exaggerated our failure.

I’m happy that the Paralympians did us proud and brought Nigeria back to the track at the Paralympic Games in London’’, Mallam Abdullahi said.