At some strategic points in history, Nigeria had taken first in checkered negative indices across Africa and the world. Just think of the speed at which it overtook India in 2018 to became the number one poor country in the world. She had also been on a steady decline from the fastest to the laggardly growing economy in Africa. Within six years, her herdsmen are progressively rating as the third most deadly terror militia in the world. But the audiovisual footage that emerged last week showing her Short Put finalist at the ongoing Olympic games in Tokyo Japan, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi wash his only Jersey for the tournament may add more to her growing global adversarial data bank. It may have scored Nigeria as the first country to parade the most haggardly equipped and dirtily dressed athletes/team in global sports.
The Lad confirmed that Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) gave them only one sports wear, which subjected the contingents to the baleful odium of wash-and-wear practice for every contest. It was an exportation of domestic corruption to international stage. A putrifaction of national values. How did Nigeria degenerate to that level? What exactly was the reason for such trans-oceanic exhibition of our domestic shame?
Premium Times and Arise TV gave us the first lead into the remote cause of that opprobrium: after the embarrassment of seeing 10 of her athletes disqualified over administrative incompetence by Nigerian officials, with the athletes later carrying placards in Tokyo, one of Nigeria’s medal hopefuls, Mr. Enekwechi, who made the Shot Put final, shared a video of himself washing his competition jersey for his next outing. According to his post, the athlete claimed he was given only one jersey for the tournament. He wrote: “When you made the Olympic Finals, but you only have one jersey.”
It is not clear why Enekwechi, a three-time national champion and two-time African champion, was given just one competition jersey or whether the sporting authorities never thought he would do well to make it to the final in his event. But to our cheers, he qualified for the men’s Shot Put final after he launched his implement to a mark of 21.16m to place fourth and pick up one of the non-automatic qualifying spots to make a big push for a podium finish.
He was preparing to compete in the final on Wednesday 4th August, 2021 when he released the short video clip. This latest embarrassing situation may have been avoided if the Puma kits secured by the faction of the AFN, led by Shehu Gusau, was accepted by the Ministry of Sports.
However, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development had refused to allow Team Nigeria to be kitted in the Puma wears, saying it was not privy to an agreement signed with the kit’s manufacturer. The ministry in a statement insisted that before Team Nigeria’s athletes are allowed to wear any foreign brand, it must sight and be privy to any agreement signed.
The ministry alleged that Mr Gusau, and former technical director of AFN, Sunday Adeleye, refused to disclose the contractual agreement they allegedly signed on behalf of AFN for five years without recourse to the board.
Recall that before Team Nigeria’s departure for Tokyo, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had unveiled Afa Sports as the official kits supplier for Team Nigeria.
However, Sunday Adeleye, former Technical Director of the AFN, insists the federation has a subsisting contract with Puma, a global name in sportswear manufacturing. Speaking in a recent interview on Arise TV, Mr. Adeleye warned that the country is at the risk of litigation from the Sports kit manufacturers.
“There is another disaster waiting for Nigeria. We have a contract with Puma, which we signed in 2019 and we got kits worth $2.7 million. Puma was supposed to kit Nigerian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics but the minister is saying the athletes should not wear them because he is bringing another company to kit them.”
From the allegations and counter allegations, it is decipherably fair to say that the two factions comprises self-serving members whose interests were masked. But they readily unmask each time they feel their mundane desires are unserved. It is all about politics of selfish interest.
This drags us to yet another unpleasant conclusion that our woes as a country were not the making of any one man. We often find ourselves pointing accusing fingers toward the man at Aso Rock as the cause of Nigeria’s quagmirical situation. Nigeria is too complex an entity to be damned or fixed by only one man. And that was why our constitution provided for a devolution of government structures into three tiers, accompanied by separation of powers, delegation of functions and departmentalization of offices. Thus we had Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
But instead of extinguishing our individual egos and selfish pecuniary cravings to suite the patriotic call to uplift the country in any position of authority we find ourselves, we institutionalized buck passing culture. We take solace in the convenient argument of blame games, adducing responsibility to the next office while exonerating ourselves. In order to shift responsibility, each government official or state actor divert attentions from his/her ills and throw jabs at every other official save him/herself. This is why I personally see reasons with President Buhari, anytime he comes up with the mnemonics of “I am not aware.”
Yes, he may not be aware, because he is not mandated to be aware of everything. Government is structured at every cadre to be taken care of by those placed in-charge of it. AFN, NFF, Ministry of Sports etc had their Heads whose function it is to deal with the respective demands/challenges of their MDAs. Failure of government emanates from these fragments, as we saw in the Tokyo scandal of last week, were we washed our private linens in public!
Our unbridled penchant for corruption and shoddy deals showcased itself in the complexities that led to lack of Jerseys for our representatives at the games. Those who strived against all odds to hoist our flag at the Olympics were stripped naked by sports authorities back home — an embarrassing but avoidable situation.
As at the time Enekwechi released the video, Nigeria had one bronze and a silver medal already at the competition. But as you read this, we are still pegged to 77 on the log while China, USA and Germany are leading. Other prominent athletes including sprint star, Blessing Okagbare and Basketball giant, Chimezie Metu have also spoken out about the problems Nigerian athletes face during the Olympics. We can now understand why we loss some of our best sports talents to other countries.
Any wonder about that again?
Whatever be the case, our Sports authorities and NOC should express compunction that Nigeria don’t deserve such treatment.
May God bless Nigeria with better leaders and proud ambassadors of her good will.
Eze Jude O.
Medical Laboratory Scientist, a Columnist and Public Affairs Commentator.
Mobile: +2348062494912.
ezejudeogechi@gmail.com
