…says Nigeria is paying for her failure to organise National Sport Festival to fish out new talents
Team Rivers wrestling coach, Dickson Tompraye Omoro, has taken a swipe at the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Barr. Solomon Dalung, on his recent comment that Team Nigeria athletes performed extremely by placing 9th at the just concluded Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, as against their previous performance at Glasgow 2014 where the team garnered a total of 36 medals comprising 11 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze medals in seven sporting events to place 8th on the final table.
Speaking exclusively to The Point, the highly travelled and experienced coach who has produced a lot of wrestlers from the grassroots in Nigeria, expressed displeasure at Team Nigeria’s poor show at the just-concluded Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games where the country finished 9th on the final table from 10 sporting events with nine gold, nine silver and six bronze medals to show for her effort, totalling 24 medals.
He also said that the failure of sport administrators in the Sports Ministry towards seeing to the continuous organisation of the annual National Sports Festival to fish out new talents was responsible for the drop.
“I’m not impressed with the number of medals won by Team Nigeria at Gold Coast 2018; the last two editions of the Commonwealth Games that Nigeria attended were far better. At Glasgow 2014 edition, Team Nigeria garnered a total of 36 medals comprising of 11 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze medals in seven sporting events to place 8th on the final table.
“But this time around we won just nine gold, nine silver and six bronze medals in Australia, totalling 24 medals which is far below our performance in Glasgow. Instead of moving forward, we are going backwards, which shows that our Ministry of Youth and Sports are not doing well at all. The administrators in the sport sector are not thinking of sport development; instead, they are thinking of what will line their pockets,” he began.
“If I’m to say, it is only athletes from the Nigeria Wrestling Federation and the para-athletes in weightlifting that made us proud. Therefore, I stand out as one of the few stakeholders of sport in Nigeria who will recommend that it is only people like Daniel Igali, President of Nigeria Wrestling Federation that should be made Minister of Youth and Sports and not these politicians that do not know what it is to administer sport in a nation like ours. Igali has shown great commitment towards sport development in Nigeria and must be given the opportunity to administer Nigeria’s sport as a Minister.
“A Sport Minister should be someone who has participated actively in sport as an athlete and has even become a world champion as Igali has done by winning a wrestling gold at the Olympics. Igali as I speak is a graduate, so there is nothing in sport administration that he does not know. He is experienced and well travelled.
“Since Igali came into office as NWF boss, he has used his personal money to train our athletes and sponsor many of them to lots of local and international competitions to gather exposure which is commendable.
“Aside the aforementioned, Igali often goes out on his own to get sponsors for wrestling competitions thereby keeping our wrestlers busy with competitions.
“I believe that if every sporting federation president can be like Igali, am sure our sport development will be on the rise,” he stated.
Speaking further on how best to honour and reward the deserving athletes that made the country proud at the Gold Coast 2018, Omoro said, “I will recommend that the Federal Government should host these athletes to a presidential dinner at least to welcome them home and then give them huge sums of money to encourage and appreciate them for the great feat.
“FG should see to it that these athletes remain relevant in their various sport by making sure funds are released on time for their trainings ahead of major international competitions, like the All Africa Games and Olympics.
“The Athletics Federation of Nigeria have done well too and their athletes must be encouraged by the FG. However, I think there is a problem with the Nigeria Boxing Federation that made it impossible for the athletes to win gold medals at the just concluded Commonwealth Games in Australia. Our boxers have been doing well at the past Commonwealth Games but this time they only managed two bronze medals which is sad.”
On the way forward, Omoro advocated for the continuous staging of the National Sport Festival to unearth future athletes who will be ready in time to replace the ageing ones, as against organising the National Youth Games.
“I will say that the only way forward for sport development in Nigeria is to see to the continuous hosting of the National Sport Festival because we have a lot of future Olympic champions that are yet undiscovered from the grassroots in the various remote villages and towns in Nigeria.
“What pains me most is that instead of the Sport Minister to organise National Sport Festival he is talking of organising the National Youth Games. How many champions can be discovered from youth games? Even when such champions at the Youth Games are discovered and taken to World Championships of their various sports, they cannot deliver. Therefore I see the National Youth Games as a waste of tax payers’ money.
“Attention should be focussed on seeing to the effective hosting of the National Sports Festival so that the real champions from the various states will be discovered and quickly trained to stardom. Since 2012 till date we are yet to stage a National Sports Festival which has made it impossible to have ready replacements for our ageing athletes in our various sports,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, President, Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, Mr Honour Sirawoo says the new initiative of the Nigeria Sport Development Fund Inc to raise N900 million to support athletes is a life saver and one that will help athletes have longer preparation.
The NSDFI, led by Olympian Mary Onyali, plans to give each of the 90 athletes from five sports an annual Olympic grant of N10 million from the money to be raised.
Disclosing this in Abuja when he received Mary Onyali and her team, Sirawoo, who personally signed up for a 90-day campaign with NSDFI, noted, “we have been monitoring your activities, we are so proud of you and your team working to raise a new generation of stars. We are not just proud of you; we are with you all the way. If there is anywhere you want us to back you, let us know, we shall back you fully.”
According to him, “This new Olympic grant initiative is so unique. It is affordable to an average Nigerian including okada riders, market women and all. We urge and pray Nigerians will have the patriotic essence to key in and contribute their quota. I am imagining the number of families this initiative will bring up.
“You would have helped the nation to solve our problem of late preparations. The beneficiaries will feel a higher sense of patriotism to want to work harder. They will want to justify the confidence reposed in them by working so hard. I commend you for this vision and God will help you.”
Impressed by the sense of patriotism and dignity displayed by Mary Onyali, the SWAN boss declared that she has been nominated by the national secretariat of the body for an award during the next Full Council meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Speaking on the initiative behind the lofty programme, Onyali, a five-time Olympian, disclosed that it is aimed principally at investing in athletes and turning them to world-beaters in various sports.
According to her, “This is a private initiative. It is not government. All we want is 4.5 million Nigerians to give us N200 each. Anyone giving us a multiple is just taking us faster to the destination.
“By the first week in August, we want all the 90 athletes to have gotten their grants and intensify their preparations for Tokyo 2020. We hope about one-third of them will get the qualification and at least, another one-third to win at least bronze. That will give us 10 bronze medals which will be an improvement from where we are coming from.”
