At the just concluded Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Nigeria’s sportsmen and women competed spiritedly for honours, in spite of recurring limitations in preparations or training facilities. To its credit, Team Nigeria finished with 38 medals, 11 of them gold, and was in the eighth position on the overall medals’ table – the best participation by the country at the Games. To say the least, members of the team are worthy ambassadors all and it could be said that theirs will only be the beginning of greater exploits at such events if the right attitude is encouraged and sustained among team members and officials.
Team Nigeria has also proven that the country can look beyond one sport (football) for honours to draw the international community’s attention to the country’s potential for greatness. Nigeria has established a foothold in one or two major events like athletics, weightlifting and wrestling. These sports should be improved upon as areas of comparative advantage for Nigeria. Regrettably, that was the story in swimming and boxing before Nigeria slid into mediocrity. Relevant administrators must, therefore, rediscover Nigeria’s winning streaks in these sports and many more.
Of course, that top level performance must have spurred Team Nigeria to dig for more honours at the 2014 Africa Athletics Championships in Marrakesh, Morocco which ended yesterday. Nigeria went into that championship as the continent’s champions from the last edition at Port Novo, Benin Republic two years ago.
Collectively, the sportsmen and women justified their inclusion in Glasgow but it must be recognised that a few of them shone like bright stars in the firmament. Blessing Okagbare, Odunayo Adekuoroye, Esther Onyema, Loveline Obiji, Paul Kehinde, the relay quartet of Patience Gorge, Regina George, Ada Benjamin and Folasade Abugan who returned 3:24.71 secs in the 4 by 400 metres women relay to grab a silver, behind winners Jamaica, with 3:23.82 secs, and a host of others, were top performers.
For instance, Blessing’s two gold medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres dash made her the 11th athlete in Commonwealth Games history to hit the double in the same competition. Not only that, she set a new Games record of 10.85 secs in the 100m to erase the 2002 record in Manchester.
Surprisingly, Nigerian men were conspicuously missing from the medals listings. The National Sports Commission and the Nigeria Olympic Committee should undertake a full review of the performance in Glasgow to encourage all athletes to excel. One minus, however, is the cancellation of the first gold medal credited to the country through a young weightlifter who failed a dope test. Whether her involvement was intentional or through ignorance while consuming some food or drink, officials have a duty to continue to educate athletes on banned substances which eventually stain a country’s record. The zero tolerance for performance-enhancement drugs deserves every country’s support and Nigeria must keep her house in order before going into any international meet.
Olympics, the greatest global sporting festival and home to the world’s best, is around the corner in 2016 in Brazil. Rio 2016 is inviting Okagbare and other compatriots to be ready to show their stuff on a higher pedestal. An early start of preparations or training to keep the expected excellent form for the Olympics is imperative. Some of their predecessors like long jumper Chioma Ajunwa, a police officer, have successfully travelled on that road to career success and fame.
On this score, talent discovery and shape-up must be structured and intensified as part of overall development strategy. The country is blessed with talents waiting for a golden chance to emerge. Nigeria’s preparations for major sporting competitions are always very poor and too late for any meaningful impact as sheer determination to succeed by individual athletes has always been higher and more accountable for success than official support. This is unacceptable. The two factors must be explored for success.
To further cement hopes for success, the talent discovery searchlight, among others, can be turned to the One Service One Medal project which is a joint scheme of the National Olympics Committee (NOC), and the National Sports Commission (NSC), partnering with the military and paramilitary agencies to ensure quality participation at international events.
By all means, the authorities should avoid the situation where Nigerian athletes appear in different colours at major competitions. They must be properly kitted in Nigerian colours. More importantly, corporate sponsors of individual star athletes must also be encouraged so that a dearth of resources does not kill the nation’s potential for greatness in sports. Her rising profile has given the country one more hope to use sport as a binding force and a tool for uniting and re-branding Nigeria.
