Time For A Sports Revolution In Nigeria

The Paris Olympics have come and gone, leaving Nigeria with empty hands and shattered dreams. As millions of fans demand the head of the sports minister, we must ask ourselves: Is this the solution, or are we merely treating symptoms while the disease rages on?

Let’s face it: Nigeria participated in 12 sports, sent 88 athletes, and spent a whopping N9 billion. The result? A big, fat zero in the medal table. No matter how you want to coin it, this is a disaster of monumental proportions. It’s a slap in the face to every Nigerian who dared to hope, who stayed up late to cheer, who prayed for just one moment of glory.

I saw a cartoon where the top three nations in the Olympics were in the stadium, and Nigeria was called to offer the prayers. That is apt. When it comes to the prayers Olympics. I have no doubt that Nigeria will come first.

The calls to bring in a “real” sports person to head the ministry are growing louder by the day. And why not? We wouldn’t let a banker perform surgery, so why are we letting political appointees run our sports? The sports ministry should be like the health ministry – only a professional should be at the helm. Only a sportsperson should be the minister of sports. It’s not rocket science.

But let’s not kid ourselves. This mess didn’t start yesterday and won’t be fixed tomorrow. Sports is intentional. It’s what you plan that you get. And we have been planning to fail for years now.

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Remember when Nigeria was a powerhouse in certain sports? We were good at combat sports. We used to make other countries tremble in weightlifting, wrestling, and boxing. What happened? Did we suddenly become a nation of couch potatoes overnight?

We lost our way. We forgot the basics. We abandoned the grassroots. In every state, there used to be a vibrant sports culture. Kids would dream of representing their local government, then their state, and finally, their country. Now? The only exercise most of our youths get is scrolling through TikTok.

But wait! Before we sink into total despair, let’s talk about the one bright spot in this Olympic darkness – the D’Tigress. These magnificent women became the first African team, male or female, to make it to the knockout stages of Olympic basketball. They narrowly lost to the eventual gold medallists, the USA. And our coach, 32-year-old Rene Wakama, won the best coach of the tournament.

President Bola Tinubu should honour these ladies faster than you can say “slam dunk.”

Now, I’ve been in this game long enough to know that when things go south, the blame game begins. But let me put it this way: How come nobody is blaming the athletes? In my view, most of our athletes didn’t perform because they were simply not good enough. Yes, the sports administrators have their share of the blame, but some of our athletes are simply not up to scratch.

Let’s be real for a moment. The greatest motivation for any athlete in the Olympics is personal glory. I didn’t hear anybody praising Serbia for winning gold in tennis. It was all about Novak Djokovic. If any of our athletes had won gold, the athlete’s name would ring worldwide. The athlete will get multiple endorsements, especially in individual sports. Our athletes need to do better. In Nigeria, we have a culture of not taking responsibility. Everything is always another person’s fault. No one takes responsibility.

But here’s the kicker – this attitude isn’t just in sports. It’s a Nigerian problem. We’re always looking for someone to blame, always pointing fingers. Well, I’ve got news for you: all those fingers pointing outward leave only one pointing back at us.

So, what’s the solution? How do we drag Nigerian sports out of this quagmire?

First, we need to go back to basics. Remember those grassroots programmes I mentioned? We need to revive them. Every local government should have sports facilities. Every school should have a functioning sports department. The National Sports Festival should be more than just a name – it should be a breeding ground for talent.

Second, we need to focus on our strengths. We’re not going to dominate in every sport, and that’s okay. Let’s concentrate on the areas where we have a fighting chance. Combat sports, athletics, basketball -these should be our bread and butter.

Third, we need to invest in our coaches.

The success of the D’Tigress shows what’s possible with good coaching. We need to send our coaches abroad for training, bring in foreign experts, and create a system where coaching is a respected profession, not a last resort.

Fourth, we need to tackle corruption head-on. How much of that N9 billion actually went to the athletes? How much was swallowed up by “administrative costs”? We need transparency and accountability in our sports funding.

Fifth, we need to create a long-term plan. Olympic success isn’t built in four years. It’s built over decades. We need a 20-year plan that transcends political administrations, a plan that focuses on identifying young talent, nurturing it, and creating a pipeline of world-class athletes.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we need to change our attitude. We need to stop seeing sports as entertainment and start seeing it as a serious business. Countries like Jamaica and Kenya have shown what’s possible when a nation takes its sports seriously. There’s no reason Nigeria can’t do the same.

The road ahead is long and hard, make no mistake. But the alternative is unthinkable. Do we want to be sitting here in four years’ time, writing the same article, feeling the same disappointment? Or do we want to be celebrating our athletes, basking in the glow of Olympic glory?

The choice is ours. We need a sports revolution in Nigeria, which starts with each of us. From the president down to the primary school PE teacher, from the corporate sponsor to the local government chairman, from the elite athlete to the kid kicking a ball in the street – we all have a role to play.

So, let’s stop the blame game, roll up our sleeves, and get to work. Let’s make Nigeria a sports powerhouse again. Because if we don’t, we’ll be condemned to repeat this cycle of disappointment over and over again. The world isn’t going to hand us medals on a silver platter. We have to earn them, sweat for them, and bleed for them. And it starts now, not in four years.