Leadership (Abuja)
Asuelimen Osasuyi
28 September 2008
Those who believe that Nigeria will perform well at the 2012 London Olympics Games should have a rethink as top sports administrator disclosed that the success recorded in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, would be remembered as one of the best ever.
Sports minister/chairman, National Sports Commission, Abdulrahman Hassan Gimba ,on return from the Beijing Olympics Games said that Nigeria must commence immediate preparation for the London 2012 Games if she must surpass the three medals won in China.
Gimba's view, however, contradicts the opinion of CAF and FIFA instructor, Chief Festus Onigbinde who disclosed that it is too late for Nigeria to start preparing for the London 2012 Olympics Games Onigbinde said during MTN/NFF media lecture that Olympic games is a competition where a country uses the athletes it has prepared over a time to win medals.
"If you say we have to start preparing for the London 2012 Olympics Games, it means that we have to begin to prepare our athletes from the grassroots-the primary and secondary schools.
"These athletes will have to be groomed over a period of time. All the athletes that won medals for China during the Beijing games were prepared from when they were three years. They started preparing for the 2012 games immediately after the Sydney 2000 olympics Games and their preparation for 2008 started after the Atlanta 96 games.
"How can we prepare athletes when we do not have the structure, the programmes and the facilities to train athletes?"
The former Super Eagles coach said that Nigeria's concentration over the years has been on competition.
"Competitions are like examination designed to test the level of preparation and development. We have to develop first before competition. What we do in Nigeria is just to bring together individual athletes to camp few days to competition where they exhibit their raw talents which then produced result. We have the talent that should be polished to become stars. This is why you see the United States or Chinese athletes winning gold medals at different Olympics games because they were groomed at a tender age from the grassroots. Michael Phelps of the United States won medals at the Sydney games, Athens and Beijing and he is just 23 years."
Chief Onigbinde said that Nigeria should look beyond the London 2012 Olympics Games if she must make any meaningful impact at Olympics games.
The Modakeke high chief said that sports education at the grassroots will be the bedrock of success at Olympics and common Wealth Games noting that Nigeria will only be going to the London 2012 Olympics Games to compete with no any assurance and hope of winning gold medals.
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