Duro Ikhazuagbe
21 September 2008
analysis
Lagos — Sunday Bada, technical director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, (AFN) says that there is no reason why Nigeria cannot win 10 gold medals at the next Olympic Games scheduled to hold in London in 2012 if Jamaica could win seven at this summer's edition in Beijing, China.
The ex-quarter miler, whose Sydney 2000 silver medal in the 1600 relay has been upgraded to gold following the dope confession of the American quartet that won the silverware Down Under, said at the weekend in Lagos that Nigeria and Jamaica were never at par in global athletics reckoning, but the Caribbean nation has told the world that with the right training programme success is achievable.
Speaking at the reception hosted for the AFN board member by MarketingMix Ltd at the Aquatic Water Parks Hotel in Ikeja, Bada insisted that though the next Games is four years far away but in terms of training, preparations must begin immediately to avoid the kind of outing put up by Nigeria in the Far East last month.
"An American track coach, John Smith asked me and Innocent Egbunike why is it Jamaica and not Nigeria doing the kind of show put up by the Caribbean nation. Smith followed the progress made by Nigerian athletes in the American collegiate system in the past and was sure that if any country was going to usurp the dominance of USA in track and field such nation must be Nigeria. He just could not fathom what had happened to that dream," remarked Superintendent Bada, who is the DPO of the Ikoyi Police division.
He attributed the slump to vacuum created in the sports sector as a result of lack of motivation for the nation's athletes.
"After the Atlanta'96 feat in the USA when Nigeria won her first and only gold medals at the Olympic and the rewards that followed, many athletes upped their training, hoping to emulate these stars who got both cash and other incentives like promotions in their work places. Most of these athletes carried the spirit to the Sydney Games but to their utter disbelief, there were no repeat of such reward systems. Perhaps, the government was not too pleased by the silver and bronze medals the athletes toiled day and night to achieve. There was no reception to even welcome them. Instead, it was mere handshake, as reward!" observed the AFN technical director.
"It was after this Games that the leg drain set in," stressed Bada, who acknowledged that most of the top athletes like Francis Obikwelu and Gloria Alozie who had been under pressure from some European nations to change nationality to enjoy better incentives considered these options.
"By the time we were hosting the All African Games in Abuja in 2003, the last generation of those in their primes like Mary Onyali-Omagbemi were almost on their way out and the American collegiate system that offered our athletes scholarships had tightened the noose, there by making it difficult to continue to supply us quality athletes," revealed Bada.
On calls to return to the grassroots, he insisted that without competitions to keep athletes so discovered constantly on their toes, there is little to expect from them.
"Why can't we start our own collegiate system to take care of athletes through scholarship? Before talking of going to the grassroots, we need to put in place structures to reward excellence through hard work. Once an athlete knows that he is on a programme and does not need to think of where his next meal will come from or how to fund his training, he or she can concentrate fully on the business of sport.
"That is how is done elsewhere. We must begin to think and act in the best interests of our sportsmen and women. Once basic things of life are taken care of, I don't see any reason why any serious athlete will be thinking of dumping Nigeria for another country. Francis Obikwelu was a potential Olympic medallist as a Nigerian athlete, no doubt but better incentive and preparation made him narrowly missing the gold for Portugal, his adopted country at the Athens Olympic."
He called for the creation of a Senior Nigerian Track and Field Championship that will attract top athletes to the country.
"The present National Sports Festival doesn't have room for juniors and those above the level. We must find away of accommodating these category of athletes almost all year round."
"So when people accost me and asked why the country didn't do well at the last Olympics in China, I feel amazed because we all saw the level of preparation the athlete got before the Beijing Olympics. Was that preparation enough to guarantee us gold medals? If want gold medals in four years time, now is the time to begin preparation."
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