Tunde Okunlola
Nigeria has made less progress in sports during the last ten years. Prior to then, basketball, boxing, football, and athletics were among the African sports in which Nigeria had held a prominent position. Concern should be expressed about these decreases given the country’s lengthy history of sporting success and the potential of its large youthful population.
The degeneration of the country’s sports industry is demonstrated by the Nigerian team’s performance in the just concluded Olympic competition, as Nigerian delegations brought no medal back home. Couple with this example is the performance of the Super Eagles in the current world cup qualifiers.
This national team, which has a long history of winning medals by producing such stars such as Hakeem Olajuwon, Yusuf Alli, Mary Onyali, Chioma Ajunwa, and many more, ended the competition without taking home a single medal.
The “famous” Atlanta 94 champions and three-time African Cup of Nations Champion, Super Eagles, last took home a trophy in 2013. Their final appearance at a world cup was in Russia in 2018 as they missed the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
There are a number of reasons for the collapse of the Nigerian sport industry. A major reason is traceable to inadequate administration. Couple with this, it is very clear the management of the sports industry is inept. Because of officials’ carelessness about their responsibilities, large events are poorly planned and prepared for.
Favour Ofili,(Photo credit: Online)
This often led to terrible performances on the international scene. The Favour Offili case serves as evidence of administrative inefficiency in the Nigerian sports industry. Following the omission of Favour Offili from the 100meter event at the Olympics 24 by yet to be identified Nigerian official.
There are numerous alleged corruption instances and issues involving the administration. Athletes are being asked to bribe authorities before being added to the team.
There were rumours also that the selection process is being influenced by connections. There is also widespread alleged rumour funds intended for the improvement of facilities and athletes’ welfare are being embezzled.
Super Eagles attacker, Chinedu Obasi in an Instagram live video alleged that he was asked to pay 10,000 US dollars before he can be included in the team lists for the 2014 world cup.
Daniel Amokachi in 2016, talked about how young players were allegedly asked to pay 250,000 naira each to get into the under 17 team.
These corruption cases are a deterrent to the quality of athletes that are selected to represent the nation in major tournaments and have its ripple effect on the sport sector.
Sport facilities are not being upgraded, athletes are left to train with outdated apparatus. This in no way does not help the development of the athletes. Grassroot development has been neglected. There is a lack of structured programs to identify and nurture young talents from an early stage.
Michael Dominic(Photo credit: Tunde Okunlola)
In an interview with Michael Dominic, a local team coach, identified that the grassroots don’t get enough attention and they have mostly been getting support from few private entities. He talked about the condition of local stadiums which are below standard. Some young players cannot afford good football kits. The grassroots needs more coverage, says Dominic.
Teslim Ellias (Phot credit: Teslim Eliisa)
Elias Teslim, a grassroots football player says “The young players are not motivated seeing the state of sports in the country. The chances of them getting scouted for national and international teams is low if you don’t have connection”.
The importance of intrinsic drive in athletes’ underwhelming performances is becoming more apparent. Incentives and external rewards serve as catalysts to athletes struggling for high performance. Government and sports federations in Nigeria aren’t always there to back Nigerian athletes up.
Athletes have long lamented the lack of competent medical treatment, living circumstances and lack of financial support. Many athletes have become so discouraged by this lack of support that they have chosen to defect to other nations or give up on their athletic careers entirely.
First future legend team, a grassroot football Academy
Former super eagles captain Mikel Obi revealed that he donated more than 30,000 pounds to the Nigerian team at the 2016 Olympics. He said “Sometimes there was no food, sometimes there was no pitch to train on, there was no bus to go to the training ground. So all of this was what the coach and I had to sort out with personal money”.
There is a negative implication of this downturn in Nigerian sports. Nigeria’s standing as a sporting nation has suffered greatly on the world stage. From consistently competing for medals at the Olympics and once being rated as high 5th in the FIFA ranking, the nation now finds it difficult to get into important competitions.
Young athletes who no longer see sports as a viable career path are feeling demoralized domestically as a result of the decline. The lack of success has also affected Nigerian pride because sports have long served as a unifying factor in the country.
The deterioration of Nigeria’s sports industry is a sign of more serious structural problems, such as inadequate infrastructure, corruption, bad governance, and a disregard for grassroots development. These difficulties have lowered the public’s and athletes’ morale and damaged Nigeria’s once-strong reputation in a number of sports.
How do we address these?
A thorough reorganization of sports administration, large infrastructural investments, and a revitalized emphasis on developing young talent are required to buck this trend. Nigeria can once again be a major player in international sports if the country makes the necessary reforms and is dedicated to helping sportsmen.
#Tunde Okunlola. presently undergoing his industrial attachment at Africa Foundation for Young Media Professionals is a four hundred level student of Mass communications at University of Lagos
