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Author: Okey Egboluche
Posted to the web: 10/11/2008 6:00:30 PM

Its two months after the Beijing Olympics and a few weeksafter the Paralympics and the Nigerian Government has not made any comments ofthe athlete’s performance nor organized a reception for them. I have seen theJamaican athletes, the Kenyans, the British contingent and others warmlyreceived and honoured by their Country heads on television. The fact that wedid not win any Olympic gold does not mean that these young men and womenshould not be received or encouraged. Furthermore the physically challengedathletes of the Paralympics gave a good account of themselves.

The Paralympians made us proud by clinchingfour gold medals in addition to four silvers medals and one bronze medal. RuelIshaku, Njideka Iyiazi and Ejike Lucy made Nigerian’s proud by clinching four goldmedals for Nigeria, with Njideka winning two, while Adesoji Adekunle, VictoriaNneji, Grace Anozie and Obioma Aligekwe won for themselves and our dear countryfour silver medals. Patience Igbiti was the lone bronze medallist from Nigeria.

I commend all the athletes and want to state that, though, Idid not spend the money I saved, to give myself a treat, if our Olympicathletes win a gold medal; I did spend it when we got our first gold medal inthe Paralympics. I did have a swell day, not at McDonalds or KFC but in my ownroom with a meal of garri and a loaded egusi soup. I commend my friend AlhajiAli, who gave me a gift, that I treasured, almost as much as a gold medal-a 5kgbag of garri from Nigeria!

The curtains have been drawn down, the fireworks have losttheir sparkle, the players have all gone back to their abodes; but the glitzand glamour of the Beijing Olympics will continue to be talked about for somemore time.

Die hard adherents of the Chiinese culture will definitelyclaim that the number 8 brought them a good deal of luck at the just concludedBeijing 2008 Olympics. The games was glamorous, well organized and the hostcountry had a gold medal haul, topping the medals tables at the end of thesports fiesta.

The games started on an interesting date, 08/08/2008 atexactly 8:08 pm with a most colourful opening ceremony. The ceremony, was so technicallysophisticated that instead of stirring up fun in the spectators and audience whoglued onto their televisions, it put the observers in a state of awe. It wasperfect and serious. However the closing ceremony was more light hearted andexciting. It heralded the handing over of the games from Beijing to London.With the comic like display of the Londoners, it appears that the world shouldexpect a more fun Olympic games in 2012.

One, must commend the Chinese populace for their hospitalityand the spirit they displayed all through the games. It was a matter ofsacrifice from all quaters. Many Chinese had to learn some English words andsentences in order to reach out to the august visitors. The citizens wereadvised to dress in not more than 3 shades of colour while they displayed agreat deal of mannerism which could be compared to the type Nigeria had, in theBuhari-Idiagbon era of War Against indiscipline(WAI). Months before theOlympics, a picture of a sad man being punished for spitting on the streets wasin the papers. He was made to stand on a platform, under the scorching sun forseveral minutes if not hours.

 

The Games, saw 43 new world records and 132 new Olympicrecords, set. A record 87 countries won a medal during the Games.Incredible Olympic icons like Michael Phelps lived up to expectations while theworld was stunned by the emergence of a thunderbolt in the sprints, ‘UsainBolt’ who set new world records in the 100m and 200m events.  Yelena Isinbayeva, the Russian pole vaulter,seen as the best female pole vaulter in history, in a world of her own set her24th world record in the Beijing Olympics. They was a great displayof drama as numerous and unexpected batons fell, at the exchange zone in theathletics relays. Lionel Messi lived up to pre-tournament expectations, at theexpense of the Nigerian resilient Dream Team IV as he pioneered his countrymen toclinch the soccer gold medal.

Nigerian athletes gave a fair account of themselves as theydid not perform as bad as most of us thought they will do, based on the shabbypreparations, prior to the Olympics. Personally, as a full blooded Nigerian, mystar of the games is Sammy Siasia, the coach of the Nigerian soccer team. Hehas proven himself to be a seasoned coach. With a soccer silver medal after agruelling finals , Nigerians, instead of complaining or talking about goingback to the drawing board; were full of praises for the young  lads. If there is something more Samson Siasiashould learn, it will not just be how to win a crucial final game at the worldstage, but how to beat Argentina, with or without t Messi.

It was as if beautiful Blessing Okagbare came from the bluesto give us a bronze medal in the long jump event. The lady shows a lot ofpromise and I advise her not to relent. She will even need to receive tips fromChioma Ajunwa, the police woman who gave Nigeria her first Olympic Gold. Ibarely knew of what was going on in the long jump event only for my friendKelechi to send me an SMS ’We don win gold for long jump’ and like Usain Bolt, witha great speed,I searched through the internet to discover that it was the ladyBlessing ,who, gave us this blessing that opened the door for us in the medalstable.

The 4x100m women quartet of Faith Idoko, Gloria Kemasuode,Halimat Ismaila and Damola Osayomi savedour face in our traditional medal hope-the tracks by giving us the bronzemedal. Thank goodness for the faulty baton exchange of the cheetah like runningJamaicans and the Great Britain team, but that was not just it; Damola Osayomiran a race of her life to cap up the race to win us a medal. For the men, Ijust wonder if I didn’t pray enough. Guys! Put your acts together, the factthat US dropped their baton shouldn’t be an excuse. Uche Emedolu, ChineduOriala, Onyeabor ‘’Ukwujioso’’ Nwogu and Obinna Metu should look onto thefuture after a regrettable baton dropping. Likewise for Olusoji Fasugba, who was saved for 4x100m men’s finals, thatnever came.

Chika Ygazie Chukwumerije who toured almost around the worldin preparation to the games did give us something to cheer for-an Olympic bronzemedl. Indeed, I must comment his father, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, forinvesting into his son’s sporting prowess.

The scintillating performance of Britain, who sent theircitizens back home in frenzy by winning 14 gold medals, the best in theirOlympics history, was remarkable. Britain had won only a gold medal in the 1996Olympics. Kenya also won only one gold medal at the 1996 games in Atlanta. Howeverit was a different ball game in Beijing for Kenya as they clinched five goldmedals.

 

Almost all the 32 Chinese athletes who won medals in Athens2004 Olympic Games, including Chen Yanqing, came from the nation’s system ofelite athletic boarding schools. The primary recruiting grounds for thoseschools is the poor countryside, where some 700 million of China’s 1.3 billioncitizens dream of joining the nation’s economic renaissance. Some of theseathletes have spent a third of their lives in these spots academies which couldbe likened to normal schools except for their major scope which is sports. Thissystem helped China to achieve a great feat in the just concluded Olympics. Itis interesting to note that at the Se0ul 1988 Olympics, China won five goldmedals compared to its 51 at the just concluded Olympics. Most of theseoutstanding athletes who came from the inner cities have helped to lift theirimpoverished families out of poverty through their outstanding achievements.

The British contingent set a target for the Beijing games,four years ago which they surpassed. They took responsibility after theirdismal outing at the 1996 Olympics. Ever since then, huge amounts of lotteryfunding which came into place after the Atlanta Olympics was poured into sportslike sailing, cycling and rowing where technology can make the differenceunlike many of the traditional track events .The athletes confirmed that teamspirit and team work was one of their success secrets. The contingent will havea victory parade in London on October 16th.

This has given us the best possible insight into what makessuccessful Olympic Games - from venue construction to security, from the latestbroadcasting technology to how to integrate the greatest show on earth with itshost city.

It will not be too sophisticated or expensive for Nigeria toset useful and well planned sports achievement targets. We have the bundle oftalents and we have the resources. Setting such targets and working towards itwould rather curb waste. Prior to the last Olympic Games, the funds for thegames were disbursed at a very late hour. In fact, only some athletes thatinvested a lot of money and time in training on their own and selfless coacheswere able to win medals for Nigeria in the last Olympics. Some critics maypoint out that reasonable money should not be committed to sports because ofthe many mouths we have to feed in Nigeria while others may say that sportsdevelopment or sports achievement plan may not be part of the plan of AlhajiYar’Adua’s seven point agenda. Permit me to ask these questions;

With the high rate of unemployment and crime in Nigeria,will sports not serve as a means of keeping our youths occupied or gainfullyemployed?

Will good planning and proper funding not bring honour toour sportsmen and women?

Is it proper to allow the multitude of sporting talents thatabound in Nigeria untapped?

Are sports development, grooming and nurturing of athletesnot a means of youth empowerment?

Can we deny that successful sportsmen have greatly impartedthe society by serving as role models to the young, breadwinners in theirfamilies, granting scholarships and sporting opportunities for the amateurs,helping the down trodden amongst other s?

Has sports not served as a unifying factor, in Nigeria-multiethnic and religious nation?

Does it not bring joy to us and national honour, when ourathletes excel?

No doubt, Nigerians may be so disappointed with a litany ofnon-impressive performances by our athletes in various competitions but we are awarethat most of these misfortunes were caused by insensitivity of either oursporting authorities, the government, and on a few occasions by the athletesthemselves. Some allegations that some football club owners prevent their gamesto be beamed by television in order not to show their malpractices should beseriously investigated, this is because putting our soccer games on televisionwill make Nigerian football league to gain more interest and followership.

Nigerians love sports and football in particular. Effortsshould be made to lift the standard of sports in the country. Private sectorpartnership and participation should be further encouraged. As it is now, thebulk lies on the government to improve funding and make sure that such fundsare disbursed as at when due. A time has come to fix the square pegs in squareholes, thus, appointing politicians who have no pedigree in sports to head oursports ministry or commision should be stopped.

This is a challenge that our sports loving President UmarMusa Yar’Adua must face and champion, while we wait for him to give ourdeserving Olympic and Paralympic athletes a befitting reception.