Sports

Olympic Games: Putting Nigeria On Road To Redemption

Published

14 years ago

August 20, 2012

Contd from Friday

IMPLEMENTING THE STRATEGY

That is the objective.

To achieve it requires a two-pronged strategy: the first, a
short-term, top-down approach and the second a long-term, bottom-up approach.

In the short term, current elite athletes like Okagbare,
Chika Chukwumerije and the very improved basketball team for instance will get
funding and assistance to maintain and improve on their current performance
levels.

Where they drop below acceptable standards, they lose their
elite status and their funding shifted elsewhere.

But the nuts and bolts of this whole programme will be based
on the long term strategy.

That is where, again, the minister has it spot on. A
structured, sustained, year-round calendar of sporting activities for schools
from primary through secondary and all the way to university level is the key.

In the USA, there is a working template to be borrowed and
tweaked to suit our circumstances.

In a country of arguably 150 million people, it is hard to
fathom that there are no talents capable of being nurtured into world-class
athletes.

These talents must be identified at that young age through
school sports, helped along the way to developing that talent with structured,
world-class training, proper funding and continued assistance and monitoring of
their development every step of the way.

Progress must be measured at regular intervals with key
objectives set and met every step of the way.

Long term, a world-class sports training facility must be
built within the country.

To assure maintenance, such a facility is best built, owned
and operated privately, and rented out, clad in impenetrable cast-iron
contract, at break-even costs to the NSC or sporting federations.

In the short to medium term, however, these athletes should
be sent on scholarships to countries where their particular sport has the best
personnel and equipment.

The USA, China and Russia come to mind.

DEVELOP A WINNING MENTALITY

After the women’s 100m final, word went around that
Nigerians should draw consolation from having Okagbare as the eighth fastest
woman in the world.

The insane absurdity of that statement absolutely defies
comprehension.

But that is the sort of defeatist mentality with which we
roll at the moment.

To understand the attitude that wins medals, one has to read
former athlete Enefiok Udo-Obong’s book ‘The Silver Lining’, then go back and
watch him race at Sydney 2000.

The book chronicles Udo-Obong’s focused fixation on athletic
and academic success, even as a strapping young kid.

In Sydney, Udo-Obong was handed the baton in the final lap
of the 4x400m relay with four runners ahead of him.

He could have given up, just run to fulfil all
righteousness. Instead, an asthmatic young man, determined to win, conjured up
every last iota of strength to make a push for gold.

Watch the last few seconds of that relay.

See how Udo-Obong strained every last sinew, stretched every
last muscle, and nearly exploded his heart in a lung-bursting sprint to the
tape

By the 200m mark he had overtaken two runners. On the home
stretch, he had whistled past a third.

The whole country was screaming, running with him by the
time he dipped his head just behind the American, who won gold.

I still get goose-bumps reliving that race.

Now, 12 years on, that silver has turned to gold, because
one of the Americans was caught using drugs, and the team disqualified.

That is the reward for a winning mentality. That video needs
to be shown in schools, to young aspiring athletes all over the country

And Udo-Obong himself should be invited to give motivational
speeches to these kids.

That is how to build winners.

POTENTIAL ROADBLOCKS AND PITFALLS

However much anyone wants to believe in the opposite, none
of these will happen without opposition.

The ministry, and the federations are populated with people
who benefit from this broken system.

These people will fight their hardest, in every single
sneaky, backstabbing way to derail any plan to fix the rot and deny them the
benefits of their gravy train.

It is the reason why a house clearing must happen before any
of this can work.

Too many people have been there too many decades and know no
other way to do things.

Some are so backward email sounds like Greek to them.
Operating a database or other digital systems will probably lead to cardiac
arrests.

Keeping them will stymie, even kill the process.

They have to go. Minister Abdullahi MUST embark on
house-cleaning. It is the only way to make a fresh start.

PROJECTION

Results may not show at the next Olympics. He would be
foolish who would expect it to.

Whatever successes, if any, are recorded at Rio 2016 should
be considered a bonus. The real, realistic target should be 2020.

There is never a better time to start than the present.
Otherwise, four years from now, we will return to this same finish line,
wondering why we finished last.

Again.

Concluded

Udoh writes for KickoffNigeri.Com

Colin Udoh

Sports

Recommended NFF Normalisation Committee Members Fail FIFA Test?

Published

21 hours ago

November 2, 2026

The Tide

The Normalisation Committee to spearhead major reform in Nigerian football has yet to be announced because several of the committee members recommended did not scale the FIFA integrity test.

The NFF announced in an official statement on October 22 that world football governing body FIFA have approved a Normalisation Committee to reorganise football in the country following the resignation of the NFF executive committee led by Ibrahim Gusau.

The statement pointed out that the committee members will be jointly appointed by FIFA and CAF.

Since then not much has been reported on this development.

A top source has now informed that the delay in the announcement of this committee has been held back because several of the

proposed members did not pass the integrity test conducted by FIFA.

“Some of those recommended for the committee did not pass the FIFA test, that is partly why the committee is not yet in place, ” a top source said.

“However, I wouldn’t want to give out the names of those who did not scale through.”

It was further gathered that the committee will have between seven and nine members with strong indications that there could be as many as two non-Nigerians on it.

Meanwhile, a former NFF general secretary as well as a one-time highly influential NFF executive committee member are among those lobbying to head the Normalisation Committee.

The committee will be expected to round up by May 31, 2027.

Sports

Olopade Insists 2026 NSF Will Hold

Published

21 hours ago

November 2, 2026

The Tide

The Director-General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade, has insisted that the 23rd National Sports Festival will hold as scheduled, with key facilities in Enugu nearing completion ahead of the November 28 opening ceremony.

Olopade gave the assurance after inspecting the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium and other venues earmarked for the event in the Coal City. He expressed satisfaction with the progress of work and said funding and equipment for the festival had been secured as preparations enter the final phase.

He disclosed that the swimming pool would be ready by November 18.

“In the coming days, the tartan track will be laid, and buses to move the athletes are ready,” he said.

Responding to suggestions that the festival could be postponed, Olopade criticised the speculation and said the authorities had already made their position known.

“When Lagos asked for postponement, we came out confidently to tell the public. Heaven did not fall,” he said.

“Suggesting that it will be postponed after announcement from Enugu State and NSC suggests that we are deceiving the nation. Not nice at all.”

The NSC boss also said the Enugu 2026 edition was projected to become the highest-sponsored National Sports Festival in history, with sponsorship expected to reach between ?12bn and ?15bn.

President Bola Tinubu is expected to declare the festival open on November 28, while about 12,000 athletes and officials are scheduled to arrive in Enugu from November 26.

Athletes from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory will compete in various disciplines.

Olopade commended Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, for his commitment to hosting the event, describing the state as a secure and welcoming destination for athletes and other stakeholders.

Sports

Senegal kicks Africa’s First Ever Olympics

Published

21 hours ago

November 2, 2026

The Tide

The 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympics ever to be held on African soil, opened Saturday in the Senegalese capital marking an historic moment for the continent.

Signs proclaiming “Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates” are abundant across Dakar, which is hosting some 2,665 young competitors aged 14 to 17 from around the world.

The event marks the return of Russian athletes to the Olympics and also includes a refugee team. Overall, the athletes will compete across 25 sports and 153 medal events.

“We’ve got people from around the world that maybe had a very different idea about Africa and they’re going to leave, hopefully, with something really positive in mind”, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry, a former Zimbabwean swimmer, said last week during a press conference in Dakar.

“I think that is really important for our continent”, she said.

Events ranging from athletics to beach wrestling, rugby sevens to breaking, will be held across eight venues in three locations.

Dakar, the nearby suburb of Diamniadio and the beach town of Saly located some 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the capital, will all host events.

An opening ceremony held on Saturday evening in Diamniadio kicked off the Games.

A total of 136 Senegalese athletes will participate in the Youth Olympics, with some 6,000 volunteers from Senegal helping put on the event.

The west African nation is renowned for its sports culture, including its football team, traditional wrestling and surf scene.

Football enthusiasts and young people often organise impromptu matches in the evenings or weekends on the beach or in village squares.

And as the day cools, hundreds of people flock to Dakar’s iconic coastal road, the Corniche, to run, do strength training or take part in group exercise.

While a sense of excitement is being stirred in the capital, the fourth summer edition of the Youth Olympics has struggled to stoke wild enthusiasm across Senegal.

Many are more concerned with the high cost of living, unemployment and economic hardship.

“Once the youth Olympic Games in Senegal begin, Dakar will become the capital of African youth,” Senegal Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo had said in an interview last week.

“Africa hosting the (Youth) Olympic Games, it’s a symbol”, he said.

With the IOC effectively lifting the Russian Olympic Committee’s (ROC) suspension in July, the Youth Games mark the first Olympic competition since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 in which Russian athletes are allowed to compete under their own flag and colours.

According to the ROC, 13 Russian athletes will participate and 10 coaches will accompany them to Senegal.

“The kids are excited, it’s good that our legitimate right to participate with the national anthem and Russian flag has been restored”, Anzor Gaunov, who coaches Anastasia Dobrovolskaya in judo, told Tidesports source in Moscow.

However, it is up to each sport’s international federation whether to authorise the Russian athletes’ participation.

The Dakar Youth Games will also welcome a refugee Olympic team, composed primarily of athletes based in Africa.

The IOC has called the Dakar Games an important milestone for the continent and an opportunity to showcase Senegal’s cultural richness and Africa’s growing role within the Olympics.

South Africa could potentially become the first African nation to host the Olympic Games, having already paved the way by hosting the men’s FIFA World Cup in 2010. The country is officially in the running for the 2036 Summer Olympics.