Frustrated Nigerians on social media say Nigeria has won two medals at the ongoing Rio Olympic-Adekunle Gold and Joke Silva. This may be hilarious but it reflects the utter disappointment of most Nigerians with the lackluster performance of our athletes.
Nigerians are now hoping for a miracle so that her athletes will not return empty handed.
But, Nigerians shouldn’t be surprised or shocked by this pathetic performance. We are the architect of our own sports failure.
Prior to the commencement of the Olympic Games, the ‘Nigerian factor’ symptomatic of our polity reared its ugly head. What followed were litanies of embarrassments.
The headlining, shameful, and dramatic arrival of the under 23 team to Rio few hours to their match against Japan which they miraculously won 5:4, the late release of funds that our athletes had to ‘beg’ for money, our only boxer to the games, Efe Ajagba, had no gloves to train, and our misfiring sports minister, Solomon Dalung.
All these chaos and confusion Nigeria took to the Olympic Games. And it has been a medley of terrible results that has made Nigerians anticipate and pray for just any medal. A Miracle.
Of course, Nigeria has witnessed this before. In London 2012 Olympics, Nigeria didn’t win any medal. It was the same fantastically terrible preparation, the same preparation for Rio and we can guarantee you that this same thing will occur in the next four years in Tokyo.
While countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, and Singapore are already on the medals table, Nigerians are waiting desperately for a miraculous medal.
Ludicrously, Nigeria’s honourable minister of sport said: “We are targeting 10 medals when the tournament gets underway in Rio but at least we should win 5.”
Presently, he is singing another tune, saying: “Nigeria will not leave Rio without medals” even though the country’s medal hopes is fast fading with few days to the end of the games.
As Nigerians wait endlessly for this miraculous and elusive medal, we hope that sports administrators realize that good preparation begets good performance. Until we fathom this, we will continue to hinge our expectations on miracles.
