It is no longer news that thanks to Nigeria failing to win any medal at the Paris Olympics, the world was deprived of the privilege of hearing Nigeria’s freshly authorised old anthem. Whereas some would say that we redeemed ourselves at the Paralympics which held right after the Olympics, one might ask how many viewers worldwide would have been privileged to hear the extolling rhythm of our brotherhood when Onyinyechi Mark and Folashade Oluwafemiayo broke world records back-to-back on their backs. But at the Olympics, we floundered.
And so what? After all, Ghana did not win any medal! While some persons would invoke relevant clauses from the Jollof Disputation Act to justify Nigeria’s failure to win even a ceramic medal, we should ask if Ghana took as many athletes and officials to Paris like us, or if the Ghanaians spent days trying to decipher which brother (formerly “compatriot”) chopped off the name of a key athlete from the list of registrants for a race, or whether the Ghanaians were served cold heartbreak by having the world record holder for a race fail to clear the heats, or whether the Ghanaians had the privilege of watching their compatriots win medals for other countries, including one athlete who had to change her name entirely, letting go of her heritage for the filthy lucre of a glorious Olympic medal. By the time we are done asking this questions, we may not have time to ask about allegations that some fit athletes were left at home, while some unfit ones joined the troops to Paris, or how a not-too-large athlete managed to miss the closing ceremony because he was not provided an outfit in his size!
Nigeria has just made you to read the 128-word paragraph of lamentations above; one word for every year since the Olympic Games were resurrected in Athens in 1896. Weeks after the shameful outing, not a single person involved in this macabre dance has faced any consequence whatsoever. In some other countries, someone at the top would resign or get fired, even if it might just be a symbolic charade to communicate to the public that actions and inactions have consequences, but over here, it would not be surprising if, assuming the political climate remains the same, the officials who organised Paris 2024 would be the same crew to run the Los Angeles 2028 operation.
Talking about LA2028, those who would win medals there are already preparing for it. Competing at the Olympics is unlike academic exams where a really gifted student can afford to play all through a semester and pull one or more all-nighters to pass an exam. With the Olympics, early and focused preparation is non-negotiable. But of course, our officials already know this. So, we wonder why we do not invest massively in sports and groom a pipeline of talent to compete under our flag. Alright, we understand that Nigeria does not [currently] have the kind of money that the Americans or Chinese pump into sports. Can we at least divert some of the funds used in building unnecessary flyovers or passenger-deprived “international airports” towards keeping sports facilities fit for sports? Having good sports facilities without a supporting system for sports administration would be suboptimal but at least we would not lose home (facilities) and away (administration).
There is a lot to unpack around our shameful outing at the Olympics and it would be unfair to say that the present administration is entirely responsible for our failure. However, given the passionate proclivity of certain principalities for the national anthem, maybe we can whisper into their ears that properly funding sports and overhauling sports administration would force Nigerians to learn and sing the anthem without needing to be threatened by fines or jail time. Each time a Nigerian athlete climbs the podium and the drums roll, Nigerians of different tribes and tongue would chant with glee, proud to serve our sovereign motherland.
Image Credit: Naomi Baker/Getty Images
Jilomes 