By Ben Efe
It’s another Olympic year and it’s time of course for Nigerian sports officials to be counting on one finger, which small band of athletes that can to work magic in Paris, France.
Athletes who have squeezed through the bottle neck based on personal efforts, self belief and whatever motivation the can find. Lucky one or two of these athletes usually at best scrape up a silver or bronze for a country blessed with abundant talents.
Nigerian athletes and their coaches live on a prayer when in practical reality they should be feared by their competitors from other countries.
At the world level many of the athletics enthusiasts have expected Nigeria to rub shoulders with the USA, but it is a small Island Nation Jamaica that has stepped up to the table.
Since Mary Onyali, Christy Opara Thomson, Beatrice Utondo and Faith Idehen gave the world that iconic celebration after winning the 4x100m bronze at Barcelona 1992 and Chioma Ajunwa a touch of gold at the 1996 Olympics, the world waited for Nigeria to churn out more results considering the Calibre of athletes the country have over the years.
But it takes much more than having athletes with talents to win Olympic gold medal, they need to be groomed, managed, motivated and massaged with uptomost professionalism to produce results.
With all the right conditions, to produce and an Olympic athlete takes a five to ten years circle. And it is always money well spent when such athlete begins to win at the top level.
A few Nigerian athletes have been able to go through the process in recent times, they include Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume.
This season there seems to be a bump in the number of athletes that have demonstrated that they are heading to the big time; sprinters like Favour Ofili, Ella Onojuvwevwo, Temitope Adeshina, Godson Brume, Udodi Uwazurike, Nathaniel Ezekikel, Samson Ogazi and many others who have racked up world standard performances.
How are these athletes being helped to fulfil their true potentials at the world level? It has gone pass the stage of individual efforts by athletics officials who propel the athletes to world acclaim. It is now time for professionalism and science to take over.
Athletes of African origin representing different countries around the have the same physiological make like those of Nigeria and other West African countries, it is the professional and scientific based grooming that gives them edge over their Nigerian counterparts.
Normally a good number of these top Nigerian athletes could get personal sponsorships and endorsements from sports wear companies, but the limiting conditions in their country of origin has made it almost impossible for the athletes to get the much desired private sector financial muscle.
The government has not created that environment for sports to thrive. Since the government is involved in the day to day administration of sports in Nigeria, they need to fill the vacuum by providing funding for these athletes. Give Amusa and co the dollar and they would give you gold in great numbers. Isn’t it an embarrassment and a tragedy a nation of over 130m people to be banking on only one athlete to win them gold?
All the Nigerian potential gold medalists should be given a grant of at least $50,000 for a start. The $5,000 or so handed to some of them presently is a drop of water in the ocean. At their level each Nigerian medal potential should be able to flying in their personal coach, chiropractor, physiotherapists, and medics standby for them to be put in the right physical and mental condition for them to operate at the same level with their USA, UK, Australia and Jamaican countersparts.
If President Bola Tinubu can approved N3.billion for all the outstanding payment ahead of the Nations Cup for the Super Eagles, he can also authorise the Central Bank of Nigeria to make a billion naira at least for the training grants of the athletes in all the sports going to the 2024 Olympics.
Apart from that the sports ministry needs to put its act together to avoid the disastrous outing at the Africa Games; athletes were owed allowances all through the games. It took inventions from people like Olumide Oyedeji, Prof. Ken Anugueje and Daniel Igali to talk the athletes out of launching a protest in Accra, Ghana. Igali was even embarrassed that the permanent secretary in the sports ministry does not know who he was.
The Sports Minister should tap into the knowledge of technocrats like Yusuf Ali, Al Hassan Yakmut, and other sports eggheads still very much around to chart and chase a successful cause for the country. There is no point beating around the bush when those in authority know very well what to do.
