Nigeria’s sports @ 55: Kudos, knocks!


As Nigeria celebrates its 55th independence anniversary today, stakeholders in sports  have frowned at its performance in the sector while others passed a vote of confidence on its performance.
Former Africa’s fastest sprinter, Mary Onyali and former ace footballer, ‘Mathematical’ Segun Odegbami said that the downward slide in sports leaves much to be desired of a country that prides itself as Giant of Africa.
‘’The journey of Nigeria in sports from independence was a great one and Nigeria flourished in it. We did well in virtually all
sports ranging from Long Jump, Boxing, Tennis, Table Tennis,Track and Field and others. Nigeria produced sparkling results from an equally sparkling, determined and selfless athletes.
The likes of Emmanuel lfeajuna who won a gold medal in high jump during the Commonwealth Games in 1954, Hogan Kid Bassey who became the world featherweight boxing champion in 1957 and Dick Tiger, who won the middleweight crown and later the world light heavyweight crown, Samuel Peter who won the Heavyweight Boxing title readily come to mind.
At the second All-Africa Games, the Green Eagles won the gold medal of the football event as well as the 1980 Nations Cup. It was not until the 80’s that we started declining slowly. The administrators failed to arrest the decline. It was the infrastructures of the 80s that sustained us up to ’90 to ’94. Football has always managed to save us’’, Odegbami who single-handedly moulded Chioma Ajunwa to win the first individual gold medal in the Long Jump at  Atlanta Olympics said.
Odegbami who is aspiring to contest the FIFA Presidential election to take over from Joseph Blatter offered a way out of the woods for Nigeria.
‘’We need brand new people, genuine sports people to take over the administration of our sports. We need those who have the passion for sports to nurture the roots of sports to its zenith. As a country, we have what it takes to rule not only Africa but become a power-house in World Sports. Until then, we’ll continue our motion without movement in sports’’, he submitted.





For the full story, check the Vanguard newspaper.



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