Paris 2024 Olympic: Nigeria’s Pillar of Sports, Agu-Ejidike, calls for probe of Team Nigeria’s woeful performance

Nigeria’s Pillar of Sports, Chief Donatus Agu-Ejidike has called on the National Assembly, and other relevant government agencies to launch a probe into Team Nigeria’s woeful performance at the just-concluded Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where the country paraded no fewer than 80 athletes in about a dozen sports without winning a medal

Ejidike made the call during an interactive session with journalists in his office at Ilorin, the Kwara State Capital.
The probe according to him, would enable government identify factors that led to the poor showing of Team Nigeria and met out appropriate sanctions as well as guide against a repeat occurrence.

Going memory lane, he explained that there had been some occasions in the past, when Nigeria participated in the Olympic without a medal and nothing was done about it not minding the billions of tax payers money that was wasted.

” There’s need for government to start holding people accountable for wasting public funds without anything to show for it.
” At the just concluded 2024 Olympic Games everything went wrong which was a replication of the Helsinki, 1952, Melbourne , 1956, Rome, 1960 1968 Mexico, 1968, Moscow 1980, the Seoul, 1988 and the London 2012 Games where the country participated without winning a medal.

The Anambra-born Sports philanthropist attributed the country’s lack of medal on those past occasions to the wide gap between us in terms of development then. “But the same cannot be said of the gap, at this age and time, when the world has become a global village, where access to modern training techniques has become liberalised, courtesy of the Internet,”and also the majority of the athletes representing the country are based abroad, he added.

He equally lamented the administrative ineptitude that led to the omission of some athletes who were before the games, medal prospects.
“It’s terrible that the AFN as at today are still shifting blames on their ineptitude in their inability to register Favour Ofili for the 100 meters race.

“Also cyclist, Ese Ukpeseraye had to turn to her German colleagues from whom she borrowed a bicycle to race. Although, the Honourable Minister for Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, had explained saying the slot was allocated to Nigeria, following a “dying minute” disqualification of one of the countries who had already qualified, thereby making it a short-notice invitation.

“But with due respect to the Minister, there is nothing wrong if the Nigerian Cycling Federation (NCF) made a standby arrangement, knowing fully well that Nigeria is the best placed loser to benefit from any withdrawal or disqualification”, Ejidike opined.

Ejidike maintained that, there is the need for a comprehensive probe to unravel the identity of “who failed to do what”, that denied the young lady the opportunity she had spent years of hardwork, preparing for.

The patron of the Nigerian Football Supporters Club (NFSC) also recalled with regret, the number of athletes of Nigerian descent who, due to the administrative laxity in Nigeria, switched allegiance to represent, and won medals for other countries at the quadrennial event.

One of them, according to him, is Salwa Eid Naser, born in Onitsha Anambra State, originally named Eberechukwu Agbapuonwu, who represented and won a medal for her adopted country; Bahrain

” In women’s 400m. Rasheed Adeleke, who represented the Republic of Ireland, was also born of Nigerian parents from Oyo State. She was also a high performer. Even though she did not have a podium finish at the Olympics she has been an Irish national record holder.
“Ayomide Folorunsho, another Nigerian by descent, competed for Italy in the women 400m. Not forgetting the Nigerian, Saheed Idowu, who competed in the Table Tennis event, wearing the colours of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The most painful of them all is Annette Echikunwoke who suffered the same fate as Ofili in Tokyo, wanting to represent Nigeria three years ago. She, as a result of the chronic administrative ineptitude that characterises sports administration in Nigeria, switched her international allegiance to the United States of America, and this time around, she won a silver medal in Hammer Throw, while Yemisi Ogunleye, another Nigerian by origin, won gold for Germany in Shot Put, and the list goes on and on.

The Nnewi-born former President of the Karate Federation of Nigeria (KFN) describes the performance of Team Nigeria at the event as “shambolic, and unacceptable, and must be probed, considering the country’s pedigree in the comity of sporting nations globally, coupled with a whopping N12 billion naira, the Federal Government released for the prosecution of the Games, he added.

Not done, Ejidike quipped: “How was the money spent that it never impacted our medal fortunes through performance?

Who was responsible for the non-registration of Favour Ofili for the women’s 100m event?

How come, nobody raised an alarm, when the list of registered athletes, without her name, came out?

Why were the D’Tigresses denied entry to the venue of the opening ceremony?”

These, according to him, are some of the salient questions that needs to be answered by the people in charge.

He, however, praised the individual athletes, saying that, Nigerians noticed and appreciate their efforts, which were never complemented by the administrators. He singled out the national women basketball team, the D’Tigress, for a special commendation for making it to the quarter finals; a feet never achieved by any African country, male or female.

The Pillar of Sports also lamented the culture of those running sports in Nigeria, populating the Nigerian contingent with their cronies and relatives.

“People who have nothing to contribute to the running of the affairs of team Nigeria are the ones calling the shot which is very unfortunate, noting that it must be put to a stop.

” For Nigeria to avoid this type of abysmal outing at any international meet. Sports Federations’ officials while doing their jobs must do away with the mindset that they are doing the athletes a favour. They need to know that, without the athletes, there would be no need for their office and their presence in Paris”, he concluded