Sports
Olympic Games As Development Index
The Olympic Games, no doubt, is the highest sporting
competition worldwide.
Pierre De Coubertin is widely revered as the father and
founder of Modern Olympics since 1896.
Evidence abounds that the Olympic Games as a global sporting
competition is held after every four (4) year interval in a major city of a
developed economy.
A victory recorded in any event at the Olympics is highly
honoured because for one to win a laurel at the Olympic Games one has to compete
with the best athletes across the globe.
For a nation to be a contender of note at the Olympic Games
means to lead on the medals table consistently.
Interestingly, a close examination of leaders on the Olympic
medals table in the past thirty (30) years, for instance, evinces a fascinating
outcome, particularly as it affects the first ten countries on the overall
medals table.
One thing is clear; an unbiased evaluation of the Olympic
Medals Table in the past 30 years shows the dominance of the group of eight
industrialised nations popularly referred to as the G-8 among the top ten on
medals table.
It is worthy of mention that the G-8 nations include the
United States of America, United Kingdom, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan
and Canada.
These groups of industrialised nations are also regarded as
the Developed Economies of the world.
Worthy of note also is the fact that the five (5) permanent
members of the Security Council of the United Nations form the nucleus of the
G-8.
They include China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and
USA. As if that is not enough, the hosting rights is largely awarded to the
continents of Europe and North America and anytime the hosting right is granted
a nation outside the shores of Europe and North America, experience has shown
that an emerging economy might have been identified by the organisers, the
International Olympic Committee, IOC.
This emerging economy is dominated by the Asian tigers where
China, Japan, North and South Korea belong.
Today, another emerging economy so identified in the world
is Brazil and the city of Rio De Janeiro already has been awarded the hosting
right for the Olympic Games in 2016 while Pyeongchang in the Gangwon province
of South Korea will host the Olympic Games afterwards.
This observation has prompted many analysts to see the
Olympic Games as an economic growth indicator or a development index.
Similarly, after the First and Second World Wars, it does
appear that the developed economies comprising the five (5) permanent members
of the United Nations Security Council do not go to wars to exhibit greatness
and supremacy but to the Olympic Games.
Again, the dominance of these nations among the top ten (10)
countries on the medals table in the past thirty (30) years is a testament to the fact that the Olympics is
not just a sporting arena.
In which case, the Olympic Games have become the third world
war where developed economies, no longer, exhibit supremacy with guns and
ammunition but leadership through the acquisition of laurels as shown on the
Olympic Games medals table.
These developed economies are closely followed on the medals
table by the bailed out economies of Greece, Portugal and Spain before the
third world economies where Africa belongs.
It is pertinent to observe that, South Africa which is the
largest economy in Africa led on the London 2012 Olympic Games Medals Table
with three gold medals more than any other African State.
According to
Professor Willy Okowa, a Professor of Development Economics with the University
of Port Harcourt “The economy has a role to play. Those societies that have
huge economic output, such as USA, China, Japan, have behind their economic
success “organisation” and proper “administration of resources”.
Professor Okowa concluded that: Credible institutions would
have been created over the years to drive the economy, pointing out that it is
this organisation and strong institutions that sport has taken advantage of to
lead other economies at the Olympics.
In his submission, a professor of Economic History with the
University of Port Harcourt, Professor Ben Naanen described the Olympics Games
as a “theatre of social war and any nation participating in Olympic Games must
participate with the spirit of war”.
In his words, Dr Hycenth Amakiri Ajie, a Senior Lecturer in
Economics also with the University of Port Harcourt says, “Performance at the
Olympic Games reflects the state of economy”.
Professor Okowa earlier cited, emphasised that “societies
that have successfully built up their economies clearly have superior
organisation to those societies that are yet to do so”.
Truly, Africa nations must strive to improve their economies
to benefit from superior organisation and adequate resources from the organised
private sector, as government alone cannot provide all the needed funds for
sports including the Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, poor organisation weak institutions, poor
funding of sporting events as well as lack of good governance have caused many
African athletes to seek greener pastures in European nations, USA, Canada and
the Caribbeas.
Nigeria’s Christiana Ohuruogwu and Mo. Farrah of Somali
represented Great Britain and won laurels for
them, while some Cameroonian and athletes from Democratic Republic of
Congo defected during the London 2012 Summer Games.
Funny enough, the poor performance of African Countries and
defection of African athletes seemed to justify the Euro-centric views about
the continent which before now were largely considered as racist.
This is why in the affairs of nations, the Olympic Games is
largely considered by Afro-centric scholars as an avenue for Africa to prove
Euro-centric scholars wrong.
Thus, Nigeria’s
dismal performance at the just concluded London 2012 Olympic Games
remains a sad commentary.
This is because Nigeria is described as Africa’s “Big
Brother” and its absence on the 2012 London Olympics Medals table remains a
concern.
For instance, the flag of the Nation – Green White Green was
not flown throughout the games and the national anthem was not sung at anytime
during the Games because no athletes won laurels.
The winning of six gold, five silver and two bronze medals
at the recently concluded 2012 Paralympics, therefore, is a worthy consolation
indeed.
On the other hand, players of the Falconet who represented
Nigeria in FIFA U-20 Women World Cup in Japan and their technical crew got N1
million each and N1.2 million for coaches respectively.
In other African Countries, victorious athletes at the
Olympic Games received similar cash awards and accolade, while some athletes have
won various endorsements which will translate into the improvement of their
economic status.
As President Goodluck Jonathan ordered for restructuring of
the sports sector, it is pertinent that the proposed National Sports Retreat
expected to articulate the way forward, will consider a gamut of factors that
are not only sports related to achieve success.
This is absolutely necessary because Nigeria as a nation
cannot fail in security of lives and property, education, health, good
governance and electricity supply and do well alone at the Olympic Games. It is
not realistic.
The education sector where schools sports is strategic must
be restructured at all levels for a better outing at the Olympics, while
scholarship should be given to potential athletes, in school, be they in
secondary or tertiary institutions of learning.
Critical stakeholders in sports administration must exhibit
discipline and be frugal in the management of scarce resources.
In this regard, the anti-graft agencies such as EFCC must tackle
corruption in the polity including the sports sector.
As Professor Ben Naanen put it, “victory at the Olympic
Games is a function of proper training, equipment, support and public morals
while nations participating in Olympics must compete with the spirit of war”.
Adequate remuneration and reward for victorious athletes are
key to restoring confidence in the nation and boost morale of citizens. This is
why the recent Naira rain on the 2012 Paralympians and award of National Honour
by President Goodluck Jonathan is commendable.
Nigerians and indeed Africans must not justify the view that
unless one moves to Europe and USA one cannot excel in any field of endeavour.
Finally, Nigeria must set long term target and prepare ahead
so as to win big in the Olympics and in turn justify the nation’s “big brother
status in African diplomacy”.
Sika is a journalist with Radio Rivers, Port Harcourt.
Baridorn Sika
Nigerian football fans and former internationals may have finally joined the call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to save Nigerian football from the grip of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), demanding a complete overhaul and the resignation of the board following a series of national-team heartbreaks, including the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, their second consecutive absence and the Super Falcons’ recent loss of an automatic qualification spot for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
Until now, football legend Segun Odegbami has been a lone voice in the vanguard of those calling on the Ibrahim Gusau-led NFF board to step aside. However, many ex-internationals, angered that the national embarrassment has now spilled over to the women’s team, have joined the call to “save our football.”
“We are demanding a total systemic clear-out and consequences at every tier of Nigerian football,” one of the former players said yesterday, pleading to remain anonymous to avoid “arrows” from what he described as desperate officials holding Nigerian football by the jugular.
Ahead of the September 27, 2026 elective congress of the NFF, scheduled to hold in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Chairman of the Advocacy for Nigeria Football Reforms Initiative, Prince Harrison Jalla, has also painted a gloomy picture of the future of Nigerian football.
Jalla’s position is in tandem with that of some aspirants who are also crying blue murder, alleging that the electoral procedure is skewed in favour of incumbent NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau to secure a smooth passage to a second term unopposed.
Jalla insisted that “all indicators are pointing to a gloomy picture for the future of Nigerian football, mainly due to administrative ineptitude, while the gladiators remain engrossed and fixated on the election.”
“The major crux of the election is the guidelines, which make it very difficult for other candidates to secure endorsements from across the six geopolitical zones to challenge Gusau.
“The NFF elective congress creates a skewed voting structure because [certain blocs] hold an overwhelming majority of the voting power, which critics argue marginalises key football stakeholders such as club owners, players, coaches, referees and sports writers.
“Out of the total delegates and voting structure, the 37 State FA chairmen form the primary voting bloc, making it difficult for independent candidates to win.
“This is so because of the marriage between the FA chairmen and the NFF. Most FA chairmen depend solely on the Federation for favours. Over time, during national and international engagements, the NFF uses such opportunities to reward the FA chairmen with trips and estacodes.
“They have been so compromised that no Jupiter would make them see reasons for a change. The system, therefore, heavily favours the incumbent leadership seeking re-election. That explains why they were in a hurry to pass a vote of confidence in the NFF leadership even when Nigerian football became topsy-turvy.
“As desperation has beclouded their reasoning, they have forgotten how low they have dragged Nigerian football.”
A cursory look at the catalogue of failures by Nigeria’s national teams will reveal this;
Super Eagles (Senior Men): Failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Their campaign ended in agonising fashion in November 2025 during the CAF playoff final, when they lost 4–3 on penalties to DR Congo. This marked the second consecutive World Cup missed by the senior national team. Earlier, in January 2026, they were also eliminated from the 2025 AFCON via a penalty shootout.
Super Falcons (Senior Women): Suffered an early continental exit by losing 1–0 to Cameroon in the 2026 WAFCON quarter-finals. The defeat stripped them of an automatic ticket to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, forcing them into an inter-confederation playoff route. Worse still, Banyana Banyana of South Africa stopped the Super Falcons with a 2-1 defeat in Morocco, marking Nigeria’s worst outing in the history of WAFCON.
Golden Eaglets (Men’s U-17): Failed to qualify for the U-17 AFCON and subsequently missed out on three consecutive FIFA U-17 World Cups — 2023, 2025 and 2026.
Flying Eagles (Men’s U-20): Missed both the 2026 U-20 AFCON and the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Olympic Team (Men’s U-23): Failed to qualify for the 2023 U-23 AFCON, which directly resulted in their failure to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
An official NFF apology to the government and Nigerians was met with backlash, with fans dismissing it as “too little, too late” and “one apology too many”, while demanding actual resignations.
The current frustration among fans stems from what they regard as an unprecedented catalogue of systemic failures across all tiers of Nigeria’s national teams.
Segun Odegbami said the failures had become one too many.
“If you fail to take your team to the World Cup, you find out that more often than not, they vote you out or sack you.
“That’s the measure. If you have a coach who doesn’t do well, they sack him. If you have a player who is doing badly, you remove him.”
“These guys have not succeeded. They’re our friends; that’s the painful thing. We know ourselves. We are all in the business and, when we champion the fact that they should go, they make you an enemy.
“It’s not a personalised thing. They have failed and, if we go back to that route, we are going to fail as we have failed before,” he said.
The financial damage from missing recent major tournaments is equally devastating, with total losses estimated at between ?150 billion and ?300 billion in direct payouts and broader economic partnerships.
This continuous string of qualification failures has effectively choked off the federation’s primary revenue pipelines and left its local development initiatives starved of funds.
The economic wreckage breaks down across several critical areas. By failing to reach the expanded World Cup, the NFF forfeited a guaranteed baseline participation fee of $10.5 million, reportedly worth roughly ?15.5 billion.
This single tournament loss wiped out an amount equivalent to roughly 87 per cent of the NFF’s projected annual operational budget. Had the Super Eagles advanced beyond the group stage, the rewards would have risen above $12 million, while reaching the quarter-finals could have yielded up to $20 million in performance-related payments.
Early exits by the Super Falcons and the qualification failures of the youth teams, U-17, U-20 and U-23, mean the NFF has also missed out on vital developmental subsidies and travel grants normally provided by continental governing bodies.
Corporate organisations and major sports betting companies are scaling back their sponsorship valuations. Without global television exposure, the NFF cannot command premium rates for brand placement.
The federation also misses out on potential revenue from global jersey sales, training gear and licensed supporter memorabilia that normally spike around major tournaments.
By missing out on tournament participation, Nigeria also loses leverage to draw heavily from FIFA’s financial programmes aimed at upgrading domestic training academies and pitches.
Consecutive missed World Cups have further lowered the market value of the national team brand, making future broadcast and marketing rights significantly harder to sell at a premium.
Former Ajax midfielder Hedwiges Maduro has praised Nigerian striker Tolu Arokodare, highlighting the forward’s strength and power and suggesting that he could prove valuable to Ajax in the Eredivisie.
Arokodare joined Ajax from Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season-long loan in July, with the Dutch club holding an option to make the move permanent.
He has already made an impact for his new side, providing an assist in Ajax’s 2-0 victory over PEC Zwolle in their opening Eredivisie fixture.
Maduro discussed Arokodare’s qualities during an appearance on ESPN’s Voetbalpraat, where he assessed how the Nigerian could complement Ajax’s attacking options.
He sees Arokodare as offering a different profile to Marcos Leonardo, particularly against opponents who defend deep and limit the space available for attacking runs.
Speaking about the Nigerian striker, Maduro highlighted his physical qualities and explained why he believes they could make him a valuable option for Ajax in the Dutch top flight.
“I think Tolu has something special, in terms of strength and power. I think he can be of real value in the Eredivisie,” Maduro said, as quoted by Ajax Showtime.
According to Maduro, the tactical demands of certain matches could make Arokodare’s physical presence an important option for Ajax, especially when opponents retreat towards their own penalty area.
He contrasted the situation with Leonardo, who he believes benefits from having space to make attacking runs. Maduro explained that when teams defend deep, those spaces become more difficult to find.
“Leonardo needs space. If teams drop back completely, where are you going to make those runs?
Then you get more use out of Tolu as a focal point to drop the ball,” he added.
The Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, LOC, of the Arsenal Nigeria Converge 2026, Ugochukwu Oputa, has said that over 25 states across Nigeria were involved in the second edition of the Arsenal Converge scheduled for Port Harcourt from August 14 to 16, 2026.
Oputa disclosed this on Sunday after the Converge meeting at the Ediz Wine Bar in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to him, Arsenal’s popularity cuts across the nation, and the Converge is organized to provide a period for supporters to network, interact, and harmonize.
“Knowing how Arsenal’s popularity is spread across the nation, it became necessary that all the different supporters of Arsenal club across the country harmonize and create a particular period where we can meet, network and interact,” Oputa said.
He outlined the five-day schedule of activities to include
Press conference,
Environmental sanitation and community service at Mile 1 Market, Diobu, involving both visitors and residents, arrival, welcome and cocktail party. Others included Games Day, football competition and other fun activities at the Rivers State University football pitch, Community Shield watch party yesterday, where all Arsenal supporters’ groups met, interacted, and discussed the future of Arsenal, including plans for the 2027 hosting rights of the Converge.
Oputa added that this year’s Converge which was in Port Harcourt, had over 3,000 fans registered.
“Port Harcourt Arsenal Community is a recognized supporters’ club of Arsenal in London and we have over 25 states that participated in the Arsenal Nigeria Converge 2026,” he said.
Also speaking, a member of the Nigeria Arsenal Supporters Working Committee, Nsikak Ntia, said that what distinguishes Arsenal supporters is their offline community impact.
“What we are doing here in Port Harcourt is beyond football. It’s a family that is growing. We had over 3,000 to 4,000 people on Saturday at the Rivers State University that shared the confidence that Arsenal represents,” Ntia said.
He noted that the club’s motto, ‘Victoria Concordia Crescit’ – ‘Victory Through Harmony’ – is the bedrock of the group.
“The work that we do at Mile 1 Market is to help with environmental protection and increase what we do in society.
“We also have future plans to promote environmental protection and better ways to handle waste.
“These are things that are germane for our future, the future of our young people and generations unborn.
” It goes beyond football, it goes beyond banter, it goes beyond yapping at each other.
“That is what Arsenal Football Club is all about. Arsenal has the most well-organized supporters’ club in Nigeria and Africa’ he sated.
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