By Patrick Omorodion
Daniel Igali (Ph.D), born a Nigerian from  Eniwari village in Bayelsa State became a Canadian by naturalisation in the 1990s not because he loved it so much but because he wanted to prove that he had potentials that could make him great in the sport of wrestling he had chosen.

He was already a national champion and also strong in the continent but his potential was not yet realised because of lack of support or facilities at home to work with.

When he made the list to represent Nigeria at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, the least thing on his mind was to defect. But a Canadian wrestling coach who had a third eye to see the potentials in great athletes spotted Igali who didn’t get to the medal zone and advised him not to return to Nigeria as “I’ll make you a world champion”.

He was not rushed into competitions but was given everything an athlete needed to succeed and so gradually he was groomed and in six years, an Olympic champion was made in 2000 at the Sydney Olympic Games. Igali became the first Canadian, with Nigerian blood flowing in his veins, to win a wrestling gold at the Olympics.

From then on, he conquered the world, be it at World Championships or Commonwealth Games and his name was on the lips of every Canadian and Nigerian lovers of sports. He became the new face of Canada, appearing on television shows as well as counselling school children.

In all these, Igali did not forget his roots. He ensured that while he promoted Canada, he equally promoted his birth place, Nigeria as he appeared mostly in Nigerian native dresses in most of the events he attended. No wonder they always referred to him as Nigerian-born Daniel Igali at these shows.

He told Canadians that the little community where he came from  had many more wrestlers like him but the village had no drinkable water nor good schools for the children of the natives who were mostly fisher men.

With the support of Canadians who had fallen in love with their new jewel, he raised funds to start a computerised model school in Eniwari to the delight of the Bayelsa government which supported the project with some logistics. Igali’s dream is to have a wrestling academy to produce many more potential wrestlers for both Bayelsa and Nigeria.

During the 2003 All Africa Games which Nigeria hosted, Director General of the National Sports Commission, NSC, Chief Patrick Ekeji could not help but draft Igali into the wrestling team and this paid off. His presence frustrated the Arab officials who tried to manipulate results to favour north African countries who were out to frustrate Team Nigeria as Igali faulted and protested most of their calls.

When President Goodluck Jonathan honoured Igali not too long ago, some Nigerians, especially some Olympians felt he shouldn’t have because they said Igali competed for another country at the Olympics rather than Nigeria and therefore owed allegiance to Canada.

Igali, now a lawmaker in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, took the protests with a pinch of salt but challenged them to prove that they have contributed more to the development of  the country’s sports than himself.

That singular act may have gingered him to want to do more for the country than ever before. As technical assistance to the wrestling federation, Igali not only advises the coaches but helps in the training of the wrestlers from time to time at his own expense.

He has assured the country that Nigeria will not only qualify for the 2012 London Olympics but will return home with medals of any colour. A case of what I couldn’t give the country as an athlete, I want to  give as a coach or technical adviser.

But he recently expressed pains that the wrestlers are not given the best of preparations even as they continue to garner qualification tickets for the Olympics, stressing that if given adequate preparations, the wrestlers were capable of winning a couple of gold medals from the Games.

Before the Olympics proper, Igali has received accolades from both the wrestling federation and the Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC for his selfless service to the federation, nay Nigeria as he labours to ensure that more wrestlers qualify for the Olympics.

President of the NWF, Chief Austin Edeze addressed him as one of the most patriotic Nigerians for “working tirelessly to see that our wrestlers qualified for the Olympics and win medals at his own expense. He sacrifices his time as a lawmaker to be with us all the time and I must commend him for that.”

The NOC president, Engineer Sani M. Ndanusa was not left out in praising Igali when he and the team returned from Morocco last month with more Olympic tickets. Ndanusa, like Oliver Twist, asked him to do more, not to rest until the wrestlers win  gold medals at the London Games.

It is not much a task for the Igali I know but are the authorities doing their own side of the bidding, providing the enabling environment? Igali has proven to those who criticised President Jonathan for honouring him, that he is more patriotic than most of them.