Athlete Minnow

Whither Nigerian Sports?

Apart from the importance of sports in human history, sports create employment opportunities, amasses a large followership and bring people from different backgrounds - as athletes to take part in various games, with spectators watching and administrators, directing, together.

As sports unify the people in victories, so the passion is felt during losses. Many risk their properties, money and even their spouses or other valuables through bettings, because of their craze for sports.

In short, sports are real business and as they spread across the world, the bug caught up with Nigeria in the early 50s. Then, Nigerian sports started as a mere exercise among the colonial masters, but later she registered her presence in world’s sports, when the country had her first appearance in the Helsinki Olympic Games in 1952.

It took the most populated African nation only two years before she recorded her first victory in 1954, when Emmanuel Ifeajuna won a gold medal in the high jump event at the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff.

The record of early success achieved by Nigeria in global sports would not be complete without a mention of Hogan ‘Kid’ Bassey, who became the world featherweight boxing king in 1957 and Dick Tiger, who won the middleweight crown and later the world light heavyweight crown.

Chioma Ajunwa, Nwankwo Kanu, Mercy Akide, Mary Onyali, the late Muda Lawal, Olusoji Fasuba and Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, to mention just a few are celebrated sports people in their own rights.

Sports actually began to take solid root in the country in the 60s, when the National Sports Commission (NSC) began to function.

In 1973, the National Sports Festival was introduced as an avenue for discovering athletes who will represent the country in continental and international competitions. The first National Sports Festival which was held in Lagos attracted over 6,000 athletes.

The 70s witnessed tremendous successes as the Green Eagles won gold medal in the All-Africa Games, while the country’s contingent to the games won an overall second position on the medals table.

1976 and 1977 also saw the country recording victories in continental football tournaments, when the IICC of Ibadan and Rangers of Enugu excelled in the Cup Winners Cup Competition.

The country’s exploits continued to soar through the 80s and 90s with uncountable achievements, especially in football. The Eagles, led by Christian Chukwu, won the Africa Cup of Nation’s for the first time in Lagos in 1980.

In 1984 and 1988, Nigeria again got to the finals of that championship, only to lose on both occasions to Cameroon.

Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets won the Kodak U-17 World Cup, now known as FIFA U-17 World Cup, in China and the Flying Eagles nearly did the same at the Saudi ‘89 U-20 World Cup, but lost narrowly in the final to Portugal. Nigeria’s victory “the miracle of Damman,” over Russia after trailing four goals behind and with just 25 minutes left, is still fresh in our minds.

Nigeria also won silver and bronze medals in the male and female categories of 4 x100m at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

Apart from these, many Nigerians had distinguished themselves in various sports.

The exploit of Nigeria’s U-23 Dream Team at the Atlanta ‘96 Olympics, where they won gold medal in the football event cum Ajunwa’s glorious feat by winning a gold medal in long jump, put an icing on the cake for Nigerian sport globally.

There are other achievements recorded by Nigeria in international sports, such as Eaglets’ triumph in Japan ‘93 and Eagles’ qualification for the World Cup for the first time in USA ‘94.

Above all, her first position at the Coja 2003 All Africa Games and recently, the FIFA U-17 World Cup success in Korea 2007 stand the nation out as a land that is blessed with human talents and natural resources.

The talents in the country are so many that many, out of either neglect by those in authorities or due to personal reasons, ditched Nigeria to feature for other countries in various sports. One of them is Hakeem ‘The Dream’ Olajuwon, who played and won gold medal for the USA basketball team at the Barcelona ‘92 Olympics

Francis Obikwelu, Gloria Alozie, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Rasak Omotoyosi and Emmanuel Adebayor are Nigerians, but these great sports personalities opted to compete for other countries. The list is endless.

While the defection of athletes to other nations, including even the neighbouring Togo and Benin Republic is taking its toll on the nation as a result of poor sports administration in recent times, the numerous achievements recorded over the years have not been sustained by the country.

The country’s various teams in all sports struggle, not only to qualify for championships, and when they manage to, the teams perform woefully and inflict untold sorrows on sports loving Nigerians.

It has been a line up of disappointments and tragedies as the nation’s sports continue to nosedive. The downward slide of the economy is not helping sports either.

At the recently held FIBA-Africa Basketball Championship in Libya, D’Tigers, Nigeria’s male team crashed out in the quarter finals to Cameroon. The team are now ‘looking’ for the goodwill of a wild card to earn them qualification for the FIBA World Cup in 2010.

In athletics, the country’s representatives did not only fail to reach the finals in the events they entered for, (except the 4×400m relays male and female), they came back with three cases of female athletes who failed dope tests, thus dragging the country’s name into disrepute.

Other sports like swimming, handball, volleyball, hockey and boxing have not performed any better, the country’s representatives only feature in championships to make up the number.

Football, ‘the number one sport’ in Nigeria, is not left out, it has been a  tale of woes and tragedy from one tourney to the other.

FIFA, the world soccer governing body, once banned Nigeria from featuring her junior team in age-grade competitions, due to discrepancies in ages of players. Sadly, not much has been learnt from this.

The Eaglets are competing in Nigeria 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, because Nigeria is hosting, since the team failed to qualify for the event coming up this weekend.

The Flying Eagles’ second round exit from the recently concluded U-20 World Cup in Egypt was another sad tale for the nation’s football.

The Super Eagles are faltering in the 2010 senior World Cup qualifying series, as Coach Shuaibu Ahmodu’s squad now rely on a slip by group rivals, Tunisia, to make the finals in South Africa.

The female team, Super Falcons , who have been African champions since 1991, placed third at the 2008 African Women Championship, losing to ‘minnows’ like Guinea in the semi finals.

“A proper planning prevents poor performance,” so says an adage. Sadly, that is not Nigeria’s style of doing things. The nation’s fire brigade approach to preparations has failed on many occasions, yet the administrators prefer to wait till the last minute before inviting athletes for camping ahead of competitions.

This cannot work. Developed nations like USA, Germany, Russia, Great Britain and others plan well ahead of time before competitions. Also, politics, favouritism and bias exist in Nigerian sports from the administration of the games down to the selection of coaches and athletes.

Until these drawbacks are eliminated, Nigerian sports will continue to record poor results. Sports generally ought to get  equal attention from the government, who sponsors a large percentage of Nigerian sports. Sadly, only football enjoys that privilege, leaving other sports, otherwise known as ‘lesser sports’ to suffer.

There should be massive scouting for quality young talents, who would replace the ageing athletes and should be given quality training to ensure they compete favourably with the best in the world. The target here should be to get an immediate result.

Lastly, there is the need to upgrade the dilapidated facilities across the nation, while a sports policy should emphasise the maintenance of the facilities.

The potential and equipment at the country’s disposal are enough to change the fortunes of sports in Nigeria if those in authority are sincere about tax payers’ money.

About the Author

www.fastonnews.blogspot.com

We did not find any matches for your request.