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Nigeria's first female Olympic medallist and African record holder in 400 meters, Falilat Ogunkoya, was recently at Laureates College Inter-House Sports meet at Aviation Estate, Mafoluku, to motivate the up-coming athletes on the track and field events.
•Tasks govt on sports
Nigeria's first female Olympic medallist and African record holder in 400 meters, Falilat Ogunkoya, was recently at Laureates College Inter-House Sports meet at Aviation Estate, Mafoluku, to motivate the up-coming athletes on the track and field events.
As chairman of the occasion, the former quarter-miler took a swipe at the Nigerian sports administrators for not doing enough to discover the talents that abound in the country and groom them into world beaters as obtained in other sports-loving countries of the world.
"I feel very sad. I thought with our modest effort, we would have regular harvest of stars in this country, who would be winning laurels for the country," Falilat, who now runs a sports foundation in Lagos and has been organising various levels of age group athletics competitions since she returned to the country lamented.
She was piqued that the government has not utilised the opportunities inherent in sports to engage the youth and nurture them into world class athletes, thereby reducing their involvement in violence, drug use and alcoholism." This is rather saddening, she said.
Falilat, who had put in more than 20 years in athletics, feels that for government to maximise the benefits accruing from sports, should take advantage of ex-stars, who are exposed in the field of sports.
"This is the emerging trend all over the world, so we should stop mediocrity from crippling our sports," she added.
Falilat is however, happy with the spectacular performance of the young athletes at the Laureates College/Kiddies Kingdom Private School Sports meet. She promised that she would not only provide mentoring services to the kids to ensure they grow, but would also help grooming them in their respective talents.