By Solomon Nwoke

THE place of sports in nation building cannot be over emphasised. Over the years, Nigeria has recorded some landmark achievements in various sporting disciplines, but the question of good administration and structures for the development of talents still persists.

After the country’s fiasco in the last two editions of the summer Olympics held respectively in London 2012 and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil 2016, some Nigerian sports enthusiasts are of the opinion that if we need good results at the continental and global sports levels, we need to revert to the good old ways sports were handled by giving the athletes adequate training, good equipment and facilities to train with coupled with the desired exposure.

They also posited that the welfare of Nigerian sports stars should be of paramount interest to the administrators and government.

And going by the performance of the athletes like Efetobore Ajagba, Aruna Quadri, Segun Toriola, the Olympic Eagles and a host of others at the Rio Olympics in Brazil, the stakeholders held the firm view that Nigerian athletes are always ready to put in their best while the administrators are only interested in their selfish ends instead of providing the enabling environment and ensuring the athletes get adequate preparations.

Jerry Okorodudu, an Olympian and a boxing coach says our desire to excel in sports performance now and in the future cannot be achieved if we do not pay attention to the development of facilities and equipment.

He said: “All the stakeholders from the Federal Government to the local councils must brace up for the challenge of rebuilding Nigerian sports. During my active days as a boxer, there were competitions here and there every time. There was no dull moment for us. Lagos was the hub of sports activities. Some neighbouring west African countries were coming to Lagos to avail themselves of the facilities on ground then. We went to so many different countries on training tours to sharpen our skills and after which we were camped in Lagos here. From the camp you go to competitions, we attended continental, world and pre- Olympic championships and at the end we came back to Lagos.

Jerry Okorodudu

So Lagos was sort of the base for all athletes and before any Olympics, we must have attended more than enough competitions. I think that was one thing that really kept us up there. But now, athletes can hardly have competitions locally, talk less of attending continental ones or even qualifying championships. Efetobore Ajagba and Sadiq Umar had to sponsor themselves to Azerbaijan and it was only Ajagba that qualified for the Olympics for Nigeria. That is not supposed to be. He went and won his first bout and lost in the second because there was no accompanying official to make case for him when he was being cheated. So the major problem sports is having in the country is because of the apathy of those at the helm of its affairs.

Again in those days, sports was moving on fine because people ( former athletes) who have the interest of sports were on board of the sports associations. In those days you talk of the Chidi Imohs, the Ezenwa brothers, the Olapades, Mary Tombiris, Mary Onyalis, Falilat Ogunkoyas and the like. There were many grade A athletes and the coaches had to take their time to select the best to represent the country. You also had the Innocent Egbunikes, Jerry Okorodudus, Peter Konyegwachies. Then there was so much excitement seeing these athletes, but now we have people who don’t know what the sport they are supposed to belong to is all about.

Go to the sports associations, let them give you their programmes and see how many of these programmes they can execute in a year. Not many. To sum it up give them ( athletes) competitions and they will give you their best. Except for some sports where their board chairmen/presidents are up and doing, many other sports presidents and their board members don’t even canvas for sponsorships. How many competitions have they been able to sponsor in their local governments or in their zones? Take a look at the national stadium, how many competitions are going on, the stadium that used to be a beehive of activities is now like a ghost city or grave yard”.

For Sunday Nwamuda, another boxing coach and a former national boxer, our sports sector needs a total overhauling and rehabilitation to spearhead our medal drive by the next Olympics in Tokyo in 2020. He recalled that Nigeria won her first ever medal at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan thanks to Nojeem Maiyegun who won bronze in boxing. At the Munich Games in 1972, Isaac Ikhuoria repeated the feat by winning another bronze and Nigeria’s only medal. The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics saw Nigeria win its first-ever silver medal and it came through Peter Konyegwachi also in boxing.

“Those in authority should invest in sports rather than chasing shadows. The country has a lot to gain from sports. Football, athletics, boxing, basketball, tennis, special sports, wrestling, weightlifting, etc., have served as powerful image-making tools for the nation and have also fostered friendship between Nigeria and other countries. These sports have equally proved to be a source of youth empowerment and development.

“If we need good results, we have to revert to the old ways sports was handled by giving adequate training, good equipment or facilities to train with and training tours to excel. I must tell you that we don’t have any equipment for training here. So Nigeria should wake up from her deep slumber and do the needful.

“In those active days of my career as a boxing athlete, there were competitions every time. When athletes are called to camp, the best athletes from there are selected to wear the country’s colours at international events. Even when they are called to camp, they still continue with their training, attend competitions and also go training tours.

“They (Administrators) know it all but they are not doing it right. A lot of money is voted for sports, where does the money go? Look at the way the National Stadium is so deserted, what is happening? This is part of it, when you prepare your house well that is when you expect good results.

Even the sole athlete (Efetobore Ajagba) that represented the country in boxing at the Rio Olympics, how well was he taken care of before, during and after the Games? He was kept here in Lagos without any form of training tour, how do you want him to perform magic? I even praised the boy for the performance he put up at the Games. That was a potential gold medal that we lost due to carelessness. What manner of equipment did he train with. If he was well supported he could have come back with a medal no matter the opposition. It is hard to get that kind of brilliant boxer now-a- days. He did not have any training tour, the same hand that he used in qualifying was the same hand he used in training without exposure to other international athletes and equipment. In the days of late Brai Ayonote when there were training tours, such boy if taken to a training tour before the Games you were sure of a medal”.