London 2012: Nigerian officials planning to fail

At the last All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, Nigerian sports officials were grateful to the sport of athletics for bailing out Nigeria from embarrassment. And the sports minister, Yusuf Suleiman indicated that the country’s athletes will be given all the required support to excel at the London 2012 Olympics.

*Gloria Asumnu

But checks during the week revealed that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN and the National Sports Commission, NSC have no agenda for the Games at the moment. And from all reckoning it is going to be the usual last minute hustle and shuffle.

Two weeks ago Suleiman mandated his lieutenants to work in conjunction with AFN officials to fashion a winning strategy. But yesterday AFN officials were not forthcoming with comments on the progress that has been made.

“I don’t know what to say at the moment. Kindly call the AFN president, he is in the best position to make comments,” said the federation’s technical director, Sunday Bada.

A call was put through to the president, Solomon Ogba, but he would not be drawn into making comments. He promised to call back, but it seems like an eternity waiting for his response.

Athletics buffs have always harped on the need to prepare early for the big Games, but nothing was done until the 11th hour.

“This has been our regular practice and it seems our administrators feel comfortable with it. Our participation at the last World Championships was a clear indication that we would fail in the Olympics next year,” said a veteran coach.