Lagos — The  2008 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, starts in Beijing, the Chinese capital, today with what is expected to be the most lavish opening ceremony in the competition's 112 year history.

Ten thousand, five hundred athletes are expected to compete in 302 events in 28 sports, one event more than was on the schedule of the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece. Nine sports were on the original Olympics programme in 1896: Athletics, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, weightlifting, shooting, summing, tennis and wrestling.

The Olympics have a chequered history. The original Games were first recorded in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, and were celebrated until AD 393. However, a French nobleman, Pierre Fredy, Baron de Coubertin, is generally acknowledged as the father of the modern Olympic Games. Coubertin had championed the formation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in1894. The first of the IOC's Olympic Games were the 1986 Summer Olympics, held in Athens. It featured 14 countries.

Quite significantly, the growth in profile of the Olympic Games has created numerous challenges never before envisioned by the founders. These difficulties include political boycotts, doping scandals, bribery of officials and terrorism. At the Munich '72 Games, 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Black September terrorist group in what is known as the 'Munich massacre.' Nine of the abducted athletes were killed in what remains one of the low points in the history of the Olympics.

Although the Olympic Creed states that "the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle," success at the quadrennial, multi-sports event is widely seen as the pinnacle of sporting excellence. This, to a large extent, explains the growing incidence of doping, or the use of performance enhancing drugs. Forty-five athletes from 11 countries have already been ruled out of this year's Olympics for doping or other contraventions. They include about a dozen Greek weightlifters and the entire Bulgarian weightlifting squad.

As is the case with all other human endeavours, politics has interfered with the Olympics on several occasions. The 29th Summer Games also called Beijing 2008, is no different as China's poor human rights record has been the focus of global media attention. There were even calls for a boycott to protest the communist nation's intolerance and high-handedness in dealing with peaceful protests and issues bordering on fundamental human rights.

Nonetheless, the 2008 Summer Games, the first by an Asian country, is significant in several respects. China, the world's fourth-largest economy and a key driver of global growth, has spent a record 43 billion dollars to prepare for the Games which run through August 24. The bulk of this staggering sum went into the construction of several new stadia including the stunning 91,000-seater National Stadium in Beijing christened 'Bird's Nest,' and related infrastructure.

The Olympics are not only the biggest sporting competition in the world, they are also the biggest international television event. Beijing 2008 is expected to attract an unprecedented television audience in excess of the 40 billion witnessed at Athens 2004. China has promised to deliver an exciting and memorable opening ceremony that would feature more than 10,000 performers.

It is our hope that China would also deliver on its promise of addressing security concerns that have attended the run-in to the event, and the polluted air of Beijing which threatened to keep some world class performers away.

The Beijing Olympics open today, August 8, 2008 at 8.08.08pm local time. The eights are by no chance a co-incidence - in Chinese folklore, the number stands for prosperity, fortune and wealth. Brilliant as the timing may be, however, we urge the Chinese government to use the opportunity provided by its hosting of the Olympic games to not only open up its political space as it has done in the economic sphere, but to re-appraise its stand on major interesting issues, including the Darfur crisis.

As we look forward to a successful Olympic Games in Beijing, we urge athletes, coaches and officials, as well as spectators, to embrace the spirit of fair play and true sportsmanship as embodied in the Olympics Charter in their quest for glory.

Finally, we urge Team Nigeria to go all out for victory, in spite of their poor preparations. It is our belief that officials would place national interest before self as we seek to salvage a grim situation.