By EMMANUEL AZIKEN

IT was not surprising that the Federal Government expressed outrage on the performance of the country’s delegation to the 2012 Olympics that recently ended in London.

As it is with the many other fiascos that have marked Nigeria’s continuing struggles for emergence into the comity of serious nations, the government is expected to constitute a panel to investigate the fiasco. If not openly then secretly.

It would be recalled that this government like its predecessors has also constituted committees, task forces, panels or by whatever name they go, into other sectors of the polity including aviation, security and petroleum among others.

The Jos crisis is, indeed, one example of how government has turned probes into a mockery. It is now the refrain from all and sundry that it is the failure of the government to implement the recommendations of the different probe panels that has emboldened the militants in Jos to sustain their agenda of genocide.

The President Goodluck Jonathan administration has lately, in a surprising departure, introduced the novelty of constituting committees to compile and advise the administration on the recommendations of the different probe panels on several issues that litter the corridors of the presidency.

WINNER … Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce crosses the finish line first ahead of others in the women’s 100m final on august 4 in london. AFP PHOTO

One example of this was the Justice Alfa Belgore Committee, which studied the reports of several constitutional review panels preceding the Fourth Republic. The administration has also constituted a Committee to study the reports articulated by past Federal Government panels on Jos crises.

The 2012 Olympics should have been a special outing for Nigeria, given the country’s historical and political links to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II’s realm.

Instead of a superlative performance from Nigeria, another commonwealth country, Jamaica, with a population of three million, consolidated its position as the world’s new wonder in the sprints.

Uganda, another commonwealth country also came from the backwaters to announce itself at the London Olympics when its long distance runner, Stephen Kiprotich, shocked the favourite Kenyan marathoners to pick the gold. It was the first gold for the country in 40 years.

The Nigerian media had celebrated local sprint champion, Blessing Okagbare and Taekwondo expert, Chika Chukwumerije, as sure fit-ins for medals at the games. The way the commentaries ran, it was as if the other members of the Nigerian delegation were accompanying the duo of Okagbare and Chukwumerije to London. How a population of 160 million people came to rely on two persons for glory is to say the least bewildering.

Even with the prayers of our 160 million people, who temporarily put aside religious differences to pray for the team, the duo of Okagbare and Chukwumerije simply could not overcome the competition when push came to shove.

As one of the officials of the Nigerian Olympic Committee, NOC confided, the failure of the Nigerian delegation was not a personal failure for the team members, many of whom according to him stretched to achieve their personal heights in their respective sporting activities. But alas, the personal best of our athletes simply was not good enough among their competitors.

The meaning of this is that the degradation of the Nigerian brand has now fully consumed the sports sector. It is all reflective of the rudderless leadership at all points of endeavor.

When patriots such as Adokie Amasiemeka and Segun Odegbami cried out over the illegalities of our sports administrators, they were shouted down by those at the helm who prefer temporary gains to lasting glories.

Remarkably, the administrators have forgotten the details of how our past glories were achieved. It is not as such surprising that the training facilities at Afuze, Edo State and the National Stadium in Lagos are today almost wholly decrepit.

Only if the homes and bank accounts of the sports officials are as decrepit as the training facilities. The administrators have also forgotten the usefulness of school sports as they now prefer age cheats for temporary victories.

Unfortunately, the country is yet to learn from the London Olympics fiasco which was long predicted. Serious countries hoping for glory in the next Olympics are already preparing, but certainly not Nigeria. So it is easily predictable that Nigeria would be trading blames in four years’ time.

What is, however, a matter of guess now is on who would chair the probe panel to investigate the Brazil failure?