The Star Slipping Away -By Ike Willie-Nwobu

Nigeria duly served up a disaster class at the just concluded Paris Olympics failing to pick up a medal of any sorts and ensuring that the country’s drought of medals in recent years flared into a full-blown famine this time around.

While the so-called Giant of Africa froze before the Olympic podium in every sport it participated in, supposedly ‘lesser’ African countries feasted on medals — about nine gold medals in all. Of particular note was Botswana’s 21-year-old Leslie Tebogo who ran a blistering 19.46s

To obliterate Noah Llyes of the United States and take home the gold medal in the men’s 200 metres events, becoming the first African to do so.

Based on the showing at the Olympic games, does the lore of the ‘Giant of Africa’ breathe only on paper? It would appear so. While different individual sports serve up different competitions with football climaxing in the World Cup and tennis in grand slams, the Olympic games is a different stage all together, standing head and shoulders above any other. Any doubt about the superiority of the Olympic games to competitions in any individual sport was dismissed by legendary serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic. After dismissing his 21-year-old opponent, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, to clinch the gold medal in men’s tennis, Djokovic, whose trophy cabinet boasts a record 24 grand slams, declared the Olympic gold his biggest achievement.

The games come around every four years and the medal table Is always a tight race between China and the United States of America. The forbidding intensity of the games preclude the spectacle of the ‘accidental winner.’ Though not impossible, rarely does it happen that an athlete makes the podium without putting in years of work running up to the games. For many athletes, despite punishing preparations and super organised supporting structures in their respective countries, tears often offer the final tributes.

So, it is no surprise that the Nigerian contingent to the games came back with hands and necks barer than when they left. In fact, it would have been a genuine surprise if Nigeria had won a medal in any event, not to talk of a gold medal. When it mattered, celebrated Nigerian athletes like Tobi Amusan and Blessing Ofili came up as gassed as geese. How could they not?

It would defy nature for bitter leaf shrubs to sprout basil leaves, and Nigeria is not used to such defiance. The country is more comfortable with the spectre of soldiers defying protestors to dare death by protesting against bad governance.

Years of disgraceful dysfunction have stymied sports development in Nigeria. While the country has huffed and puffed to no avail in many sports, football and athletics which the country considers its strong suits have yielded very little returns. Nigeria’s U-23 team did not even make the Olympic Games where their African contemporaries in Egypt and Morocco had strong runs. The women’s football team which is a household name in Africa managed to qualify for the games before crashing to three consecutive defeats in the group stage.

Corruption and a nauseating lack of planning remains the bane of sports development in Nigeria. Many sports administrators prefer to shortchange Nigerians than concentrate on repositioning individual sports. The result is that the country is usually brutally exposed as when the stakes are highest such as at the Olympics, for no matter how much bitter leaves look like Basil leaves, the test will be in the eating.

While Nigeria performed so poorly at the Olympic Games despite a staggering budget of 9 billion Naira, salt was added to injury as Nigerians representing other countries hauled in medal after medal for their adopted countries. Oluyemisi Ogunleye shattered 28 years of waiting when she picked up the gold medal for Germany in women’s shot put while Barthelemy Chinenyeze clung to the gold medal with France in Men’s volleyball.

It is even more galling that some of those athletes wanted to represent Nigeria, but were either not provided the opportunity or were so poorly mismanaged that they were forced to take up the flags of other countries.

In the fiercely competitive world of sports, the question is why does Nigeria continue to lose so many stars to other countries. The answer is not far fetched. Those other countries, hawkish in their disposition, are better prepared to poach them. All they often need is the subtlest of invitations by disgruntled athletes.

Thus, while Nigeria dawdles about meeting its commitment to sports, other countries long envious of its overflowing pool of potentials refine their tactics, lure those athletes away and are better for it. Many African countries are equally guilty of this costly predeliction that is much celebrated in other countries.

The exit of athletes to other countries is is a small slice of the exodus of many Nigerians to other countries searching for greener pastures. The country continues to bleed as a result of this.

To close the gap, Nigeria needs to act with urgency and precision to arrest the dysfunction and despair driving young people away.
People require stronger reasons to stay. Ponderous pedagogy on patriotism or nibbling at long-cold scraps of nostalgia like reverting to the old the national anthem won’t just cut it.

The country must do more or risk international embarrassment whenever global sporting spectacles like the Olympic Games come around.

Ike Willie-Nwobu,
Ikewilly9@gmail.com