By Patrick Omorodion

Who do you blame in this instance? A child that fails an important examination, not because of want of trying or for not being brilliant or his father who failed in his duties to provide the son with the relevant materials to write the exam.

In the matter at hand here, preparation for the quadrennial ritual ‘examination’ for Nigerian athletes, otherwise called Olympic Games, started four years ago and Nigeria knew her athletes will compete among other athletes from over 200 countries around the globe.

Because of the disastrous outing at the last Games in London, a concerned government put up a machinery to begin early preparation and ensure that a repeat of the woeful outing four years ago is avoided. However, with 26 days to the Rio Games today, no lesson seemed to have been learned by those President Muhammadu Buhari put in-charge of Nigeria’s sports.

Nobody should blame the president if Nigeria fails in Rio or better still, if Team Nigeria come back worse than they did four years ago in London. Why do I say so? Shortly before the African Games in Congo last year, President Buhari met a budget for the Games as well as preparation for the Rio Games. After being briefed by the man at the helm in the absence of a cabinet minister, Alhassan Yakmut, then DG of the now defunct National Sports Commission, who scaled down the seemingly bloated budget, President Buhari gladly approved N2.9 billion for the NSC, with a proviso that Yakmut must give him account of his spendings.

The president was elated when Team Nigeria improved from her third position at the 2011 African Games in Maputo, Mozambique to second behind South Africa at the Congo Games last year. He gladly assured the NSC Director General that he would reward the athletes who brought honour to the country. And he did, also including other athletes  from other competitions in 2015.

As Yakmut was getting set to prepare Team Nigeria for the Rio Games, a minister was appointed for sports. He had forwarded some fund from the balance left from the N2.9 billion after the Congo Games to the Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC for part payment of accommodation and flight tickets for Team Nigeria.

Plans were afoot for both local and foreign training tours for the athletes to tune them up for the great task that awaits them in Rio. The athletes were expectant and looked forward to it because Yakmut promised them of good welfare before the African Games and he delivered.

He did not stay to carry out his plan and dream for the athletes as he was posted out from the sports ministry to the Niger Delta ministry. He did not leave without handing over to his successors, Barrister Solomon Dalung, the new sports minister and  the Permanent Secretary, Mr Christian Ohaa, he said.

Nigerians were not told that Yakmut failed to hand over before he left.  And Yakmut has come out to say that from the over N640 million he left behind from the N2.9 billion, the sports minister instructed him to give the NFF some amount from it to prosecute one of their programmes.

Yet, the minister has consistently maintained that no account has been given on how the N2.9 billion was spent. Worse still, he said that there is no money with which teams that qualified for the Olympics could prepare for the Games.

Surprisingly too, no effort has been made to recall or summon Yakmut to say what he knows about the money allegedly ‘missing’ from the sports ministry’s account. In a government that prides itself as one fighting corruption?

As a result of this, our teams going for the Olympics are left in the lurch. The Sports Ministry is like a ghost town these days because the staff have little or nothing to do. All because no funds to prepare Team Nigeria athletes. Yet, Nigerians, including the minister, expect them to perform wonders in Rio.

As you read this, the U-23 football team are living on borrowed money in Atlanta. And it is reported to be for only 10 days, after which they may be thrown into the streets for lack of money. There is no word from the sports ministry, and the NOC, which takes athletes, on behalf of the government, to Games of this nature, on whether money would be sent to the team in the US or not.

But for the luck the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF has in securing a sponsor for the national team, the skeletal or low profile training camp in Los Angeles for the men’s senior basketball team, the D’Tigers as well as the tournament they just attended in China, would have been a mirage. The losers so far are the home-based players and some technical officials who haven’t been able to join the team’s Los Angeles camp for now.

Which team is not affected? Is it athletics which found it difficult sending its athletes to Durban, South Africa to qualify for the Olympics for some and tune up others who had already qualified? Or is it the wrestling federation whose president, Dr. Daniel Igali has consistently cried out over the poor preparation which he described as “‘the worst in the history of our Olympic participation?”

Dr. Igali managed to take six of his wrestlers to Spain for the Grand Prix there at the weekend to tune them up for the Olympics. It is not clear how the federation raised the money for the trip. That is the sad story about Nigeria and Team Nigeria.

The saddest thing however, is that the minister is neither looking for the money Yakmut has said he left behind nor making any alternative arrangement to source funds for Team Nigeria to get the final preparation for the Olympics. His pre-occupation for now, 26 days to the Olympics, is who makes the trip to Illah, Delta state for the burial of our football legend, late Stephen Okechukwu Chinedu Keshi. Yes, Keshi deserves a befitting burial, but is it Dalung’s sole responsibility?