So much has been said and written on Team Nigeria’s lacklustre performance at the recently concluded Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Before the Olympics, Nigerians were optimistic of at least one, two or three podium finish performances from the large contingent(82), particularly for the fact that the country paraded a world record holder, Tobi Amusan in the women’s 100m Hurdles, some of the best women wrestlers in the world Odunayo Adekoroye and Blessing Oborodudu and a cocktail of other promising track and field athletes in the mix. The Games ended with Nigeria not recording one medal.

The uninspiring outing raised a lot of questions. Those in government quarters who thought that money, without proper planning, could win medals wondered why even after the much orchestrated release of N12 billion – in these austere times – by the federal government on the eve of the Paris Games couldn’t guarantee success. Was money the problem?

Former Nigerian athletes, journalists and sports administrators have been speaking their minds and all agreed that poor preparation of Nigerian athletes and lack of sustained funding of training and developmental programmes are the bane of Nigerian sports. In conclusion, Nigeria’s endless wait for an Olympic medal would continue in perpetuity if the present structure that runs sports in the country was not dismantled and rebuilt from scratch.

No apologies – Emmanuel Ojeli, Team Nigeria athlete

By Jacob Ajom

Two-time Olympian and a member of the Team Nigeria Men’s 4×4 Relay team at the recently concluded Paris 2024 Olympics. He committed the error(of stepping into the next lane) but insisted that he owed nobody any apologies for his mistake, a development that may have cost Nigeria a podium finish at the Paris Games. Ojeli spoke with Jacob Ajom in Lagos during the week. Excerpts

Can you tell us why Nigeria failed to win a medal, particularly from the track and field?

Track and field is not something you just start and begin to win medals. You need long training and support from the government and the private sector, if they really want us to go to that stage and win medals.

The Germany training camp. Was it not enough?

For me the Minister really tried, in terms of short term preparation. What we really need is long term preparation. If you really want us to win medals, we should be out there for two to three months. Some other countries prepare for up to three years. As we speak, some are already making plans for the next Olympics.

Even among African countries, when we go out there to compete, we know what we face in the events we go to compete in. We need sponsors, we need long term training because track and field is very competitive. Invest more in the athletes.

You were a member of the 4×4 Relay team that was disqualified. What happened?

I stepped on another track. It was just a mistake. It is what it is.

Any apology to Nigerians?

No apologies. It’s me that even needs your encouragement. I put in my best, I have done my part. It was just a mistake.

But for that mistake, do you think you guys could have won a medal?

Oh yes. I know what we are capable of doing. We had 100 per cent chances.

What does the future hold for you?

Sponsor the athletes and we will excel. Just look at one of my friends, he has retired and this is just his first Olympics. We need encouragement from the private sector, the government and the federation and everybody. Nigerian athletes are suffering. It’s not enough to say I have represented Nigeria. What do you have to show for it? This is my second Olympics, what have I benefited from Nigeria? We have the resources to compete at the highest level, even win medals; not just going there to compete. We can win too. We the athletes know what we are facing. We really need support from all and sundry.

What happened to Ofili?

I can’t say because I was focussing on my race.

Did you reach out to her?

Yeah, I did. I just sympathised with her and told her she knows what our country is.

As for the minister, I just want to tell you something, this is the best minister since I started athletics. He is one who listens to the athletes. I just hope he continues like that.

It is understood that there was disparity in allowances paid to the foreign based athletes and those of you based locally?

Yes, there is disparity in payment of allowances. Home-based athletes were given one-quarter of what the foreign-based athletes received. We are all Nigerian athletes, representing Nigeria. When we go out there to represent the country, there should be no discrimination between foreign and home based. It is only in Nigeria that we hear that type of thing. It is not supposed to be so. During the time of my coach, athletes were categorised in terms of performance.

They had category A, B and C. If you are performing very well you belong to category A. But now you classify them foreign-based and local based, that has resulted in the dearth of good home based athletes – everybody wants to travel out. If you make the national team, it doesn’t matter where you are based, you should be regarded as an elite athlete. Every member of the national team should be paid equally because the bills the foreign based athletes are paying out there, the home based also pays bills. Indeed, home based athletes are suffering more because of lack of competitions. The disparity in emoluments should stop.

They are saying we are home based, what special thing are we benefiting? No competitions, no allowances to prepare for any competition. Does it make any sense? When we go for competitions the discrimination begins.

Who does the discrimination? Is it the ministry or the federation?

I don’t know. It has been like that since I started athletics.

When you noticed the disparity in your allowances, was there any sort of protest from the home based athletes?

We had a meeting with the minister and he listened to us. It was the first time he was hearing of the discrimination in payment of allowances. Maybe subsequently, we may have a better deal. In fact, the minister was hearing this kind of thing. This was the first time they were giving something to the home-based athletes. We got a quarter of what was paid to the foreign-based. When we go to international events, it is even the home-based that do most of the competition. Like the last All Africa Games, I competed from day one till the final day I competed. The foreign-based athletes did not compete like I did because they did not have the chance, and even if they had the chance, they could not have done anything better than me. After the African Games, I heard that they paid them 3,000 Dollars as training grants and I got nothing. Yet I am the one that practically carried Nigeria on my head.

Money alone not enough to win Olympic medal –Kaffo

*It’s even a distraction when given late

By Tony Ubani

Winning an Olympic gold medal is the pinnacle of most athletes’ careers, compensating years of unwavering commitment, dedication, and sacrifice.

Athletes who do not make podium appearances at the Olympics despite hard work and sacrifice always go home heartbroken.

Most Nigerians who were disappointed by another colorless outing of Team Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Olympics have criticized the massive N12 billion granted Team Nigeria for the Olympics and the Paralympics since they returned empty handed from the city of light, Paris.

One athlete who foresaw the debacle even before the Olympics is five-time Olympian, Bose Kaffo who has shut out arguments that Team Nigeria was a waste pipe without medals considering the billions released by Government.

‘’Twelve billion Naira is not enough to win medals at the Olympics’’, Kaffo, who had a distinguished career representing Nigeria in Table Tennis said.

‘’People talk about money as if money can win medals. No, money alone cannot get an Olympic medal. I’m not disappointed that we did not win medals because I knew we were not going to win before the Games. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where serious countries commit everything to be able to make a podium appearance.

Bose Kaffo, a seven-time African Games gold medalist remains Africa’s first Sports Ethics and integrity officer of the International Olympic Committee, IOC, and remains an authority in the art of looking into the seed and saying which one will grow. Her knowledge and qualifications from the Erasmus Mundus Masters of Art in Ethics and Sport Integrity in Belgium had prepared her as an asset.

Unfortunately, those in authority blinded by power look beyond what they have. ‘’There were little things that we neglected that resulted in the doom that befell us in Paris. We need understanding in coaching. Who are the performance analysts? We need an organogram. Did we have an organogram before the Games? Do we have Psychologists? Did we have Nutritionists? We neglected basic things and concentrated on money and two-week preparation.

Money given too late for the Olympics can only become a distraction. Do we know about the scientific aspect of preparing athletes for a major game like the Olympics? We’re only running round in circles and are destined to make the same mistakes in the next Olympics. Talk is cheap. Everyone has become an expert proffering solutions. Yet, they do not know. Leave them, they are what the Bible calls blind guides in Matthew 15: 13. ‘’If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit’’, Kaffo, the versatile sports attorney, Vice President of Nigeria Para Swimming Federation emphasised.

Chioma Ajunwa: We ‘re tired of excuses

First Nigeria Olympic gold medal winner, Chioma Ajunwa was miffed by Nigeria’s winless streak at the Olympic Games. But for a ‘golden bronze’ medal in Tokyo 2020, Nigeria has yet to win a medal since the Atlanta 1996 Games.

She told Arise TV, “It’s quite disheartening that every year Nigeria tells this kind of story. If you could remember, after the last Olympics, it was still the same thing.

“You know they will keep on telling us. Oh, let them go back to the drawing board, the drawing board we never see; and we don’t know how to draw on the board. it’s quite unfortunate that we have lost all the chances. And the athletes have wasted their time, their energy and their own personal resources.”

Continuing, Ajunwa added, “It is quite unfortunate that Nigeria spent so much, but that one is not my business because we don’t spend that money when we are supposed to spend it,” she said.

Daniel Igali: Nigeria not serious about sports

Olympic gold medal winner and Bayelsa State Commissioner for Sports, Dr Daniel Igali has also ventilated his frustration on what he sees as a systemic problem which has made sports unworkable in Nigeria.

“I understand that we are a country that wants to win badly, we are optimists but let the optimism be based on reality.

“What has been happening is that the government doesn’t fund activities of the federations. There is no way you can make commensurate success or progression in sports if you don’t fund federations. As a Federation President for about 12 years now, I haven’t received 10 kobo for the internal programmes of the wrestling federation. Programmes for U-13, U-15, U-17, U-20 and the senior teams which are most times A and B, we don’t have any. What Nigeria does now is to fund Games like the African Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games. Everybody wants to be at the Games because there are a lot of estacodes to earn”.

Igali won gold in wrestling for Canada. He recalls his experiences as a Nigerian athlete on the one hand and as a Canadian athlete on the other.

“When I was in the national team of Nigeria before I went to Canada, all I had between 1990 to 1994 was 27 matches.

In Canada I had 47 matches in 1995 alone, 52 in 1996 and in 1997 I had 73 matches. In 1998 I became a national team athlete and I came back to 54 matches. Then in 1999, I was now a world champion, so I didn’t have to go above 50 matches.

“As a college(university) student, I was competing in about 15 tournaments. I competed almost every weekend. That is where you begin to hone your skills, so when you get to the mat, you are not scared of anybody. That is what our athletes need and it is expensive. If we really want to do sports, it is very expensive.

“If we really want to fund sports, let us get ready and fund sports. We promised gold medallists in the Paris Olympics $5,000. Meanwhile, Morocco promised $346,000 for the same gold and Ecuador had $150,000. The US budget for wrestling this year (2024) alone is $60m. What is the budget for Nigeria’s wrestling? We are not a serious country. I just hope the President (Bola Tinubu) will now look deep into sports, and offer even 50% of the funds required for sports, because right now the funding from the government is about 5% of what sports require.”

He said the government has made football the official number one sport in the country. “We have turned Nigeria into two classes of athletes – footballers are the number one athletes and everybody else is second class. Football goes to AFCON, it comes back with a silver medal. What do we do for them, they shake the president’s hand, give them houses, plots of land, give them national honours.

“A month after, our athletes go for the African Games (an equivalent of the AFCON), many of them, over 40, win gold medals, did they have any handshake? Were they promised National Honours? Did they get any plot of land in Abuja? Did they get any houses? None. What kind of a country are we?”

Let this defeat become a seed that yields fruit in years to come – Chukwumerije

. Says, ‘Los Angeles 2028, Brisbane 2032 are ahead of us

By Tony Ubani

Beyond the usual buck-passing by the Sports Ministry, Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC, and the different Federations, Beijing 2008 Olympic Medalist and 3-time Olympian Chika Chukwumerije has hailed the Nigerian athletes as not failures and urged loved ones to be around them so that they can heal quickly from the disappointment of Paris 2024.

Drawing from his heartache as the team captain to the London 2012 Olympics where Team Nigeria drew blanks, Chika, a Taekwondoist bronze medallist says; ‘’my heart goes out to all our athletes’’.

‘’ Out of the deathly ashes of your Paris 2024 Olympic defeat, I want you to rise stronger than ever before. Let this defeat become a seed that yields fruit in the years to come.

I know first-hand all the systemic challenges you have faced, and will yet face. You literally squeezed water out of dry rock and should be called superheroes. Just getting to the Olympic Games as a Nigerian athlete deserves you getting an Olympic gold medal for personal effort and sacrifice.

Paris 2024 Olympics is behind us; Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 are ahead of us. Please, look ahead. Your Olympic dream is yet possible. Don’t make the past your burden. Focus on the future and determine to make a difference’’, as he noted that it is always by way of pain one arrives at pleasure. Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

Chika Chukwumerije relieves his lessons from the Athens Olympics that won him a medal at Beijing Olympics.

When I stepped into the Olympic ring for the first time at the Athens 2004 Olympics, I lost to a more experienced fighter. He was a knock out specialist and most of his matches usually ended with huge double digit point gap. At the time, he was an Olympic silver medalist and a multiple European champion. My first kick was an axe kick that missed his head by mere whiskers, and the match was very tough. It ended just 2 – 0. I really did go at him.

The only problem was – I never knew who he was. Neither my Nigerian coach, nor the foreign coach gotten during the pre-games training camp, told me who my opponent was. We never sat down to watch videos of him or anyone else for that matter. Imagine that! I didn’t even know there was anything like opponent research & analysis etcetera. Thus, not knowing the opponent already reduced my chances. I was just 19 – fearless, physically fit and eager to go. I needed guidance and knowledge-based training. Technically and physically, I was on point. But tactically, I never stood a chance, because I did not know ‘the enemy’. Knowing the opponent would not have guaranteed victory, but it would have greatly increased my chances.

Six months after my loss at Athens 2004 Olympics, I scribbled my first ideas for how my preparations for Beijing 2008 Olympics should be. Opponent research and analysis was amongst the items I wrote down as part of my broader program that involved my physical, technical and tactical preparations. I just knew that if I wanted to make a difference at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, I had to do things differently and prepare differently.

At the time, I was a student at the Federal University of Technology Owerri. Mobile phones with high-speed internet were not a thing, so I would hop onto a bus at the weekends from the Ihiagwa village where FUTO was located into Owerri town, and see myself to a cyber café that was at the Aladinma junction, near the popular Maris supermarket at the time.

The Internet was slow, so one hour was never enough. I would end up spending about 4 – 5 hours, browsing videos on various Taekwondo competitors, training methodologies, philosophies, locations etcetera. True, I did this until I graduated from FUTO, steadily preparing for my second attempt at making the Olympic podium.

By the time the Beijing 2008 Olympic came around, I had watched each of my opponents more than 150 times each. It made the most difference in all my matches, but most especially when I defeated the heavyweight champion at the time, in the golden point round, en route to winning an Olympic bronze medal.

Sports Minister calls for reforms

After watching the labourious manner our athletes ran and jumped at the Paris Games the initial reaction of the Minister of Sports was a call for an overhaul of the structure. He repeated the call in a television interview soon after he returned from Paris.

“I’ve always stated that we need to reform our federations,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme last week.

“I am also glad that these discussions are going on now. And I need this discussion to continue. Let it not be limited to the reaction because we didn’t get a medal. Let it go further.”

He said: “The leadership of these federations are elected in congresses, and they hold office for four years. Those four years coincide with the four-year Olympic cycle.

“It is the federations that pick the athletes that they think are competitive enough for any game.

“The federations are very strong in their defence of what decisions they make…these federations guard what they do so jealously that any attempt by any minister to reach out in things like this is considered interference.

“My responsibility is to prosecute the games at international competitions.

“I have avoided in my leadership most of the pitfalls that have bedevilled our sporting competitions and engagement internationally for the last several years.

“We spent more funds qualifying for the Olympics than actual preparation for the real games.”

He said: “The leadership of these federations are elected in congresses, and they hold office for four years. Those four years coincide with the four-year Olympic circle.