NIGERIAN DEBATE: WHAT TO EXPECT IN LONDON AFTER THE BEIJING DISASTER

Female Relay team in Atalanta 96

After the Atlanta 96’ games, many expected more from Nigeria, but what a story...

It was a long journey from Lagos to Beijing and you can bet that for both athletes and officials of team Nigeria the journey back to Nigeria took forever after the team failed to win a single gold medal in Beijing. Since 1996 where Nigeria won 2gold medals in athletics and football, Nigeria has failed to secure a Gold medal in any events at the summer games. It is a common saying that “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” but the Nigerian Olympic committee have been too busy battling for seats on the committee’s board to realise that, and these scuffles past and present have seriously hampered the progress of Nigerian athletes in competitions overseas. The Athletics federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the Soccer Dream team have performed best and achieved the most medals at the Olympic Games and many had thought that the NOC would have encouraged those organisations by ensuing proper funding and providing adequate equipments for improved results but when we review the records since the Atlanta games in 1996 till date, it’s quite obvious the budgets are not being utilize for what we are told that they are meant for. Meanwhile, no significant progress has been made encourage Nigerians to indulge in more sporting activities, especially at grassroots levels; this means all our hope still lies in soccer and athletics. It is fairly obvious that personal interest more than the development of the nations sporting records is on the minds of the NOC. The next Olympic games comes up very soon which is barely a few months away and with the failure of both the male and female football teams to qualify, it’s wise for Nigerians not to hope for medals when the tournament kicks-off. Furthermore it’s obvious that winning gold medals at the Olympics is simply a case of practise makes perfect rather than otherwise thought, and this is seen with Nigerian born athletes such as Francis Obikwelu (Portugal) who competed at the highest level in both the 100 and 200meters sprint events. This certainly shows that Nigerian can compete at the highest levels if given the right training and exposure.

What are your views on this topic? What do you think the NOC should do to improve the nation’s chances in 2012? One Sport wants to know what YOU think...

Egbochuku Chikezie, ONESPORTMEDIA