- For the second time, Nigerian sports officials omitted Favour Ofili’s name from Olympic list
The Olympic Games is about 3,000 years old and has its roots in ancient Greece from the Olympia games from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. It takes place every four years. Even though there are various stories about the history of the modern Olympic Games, one thing is sure; the game is the greatest sporting competition in the world.
The Olympics has morphed from a mere competitive event to the most prestigious gathering of countries and even stateless citizens across the world. It has developed to a level that has become much more than a competition to more of a presence. It is therefore a huge community gathering of all continents. Participating in the Olympics is the pride of every nation. Beyond national pride and patriotism, individuals win medals for themselves and break and create records that stand in their names. So, competing in the games goes beyond national pride to personal glories and the joy of participation.
The number of medals won by most countries during the Olympics is always a direct symbol of the level of development and interest in various sports across the world. It is interesting to see how certain sports when well-coordinated are signature sports of certain countries, given their nature and physiology and practice. Individuals of African descent often show superiority in athletics, the Chinese often excel in swimming, table tennis and precision games, the Scandinavians and Europeans often show strength in hiking, cycling and similar sports. The Americans are often excellent at gymnastics, basketball and swimming. The many games of the Olympics are too numerous but suffice it to say that each country often concentrates on those games with the highest prospects of medal wins.
It is therefore a national embarrassment for any country’s sports body to mess up the chances of the country or citizens participating in any games they have the highest propensity to qualify for, and possibly win medals. The game and intrinsic value of the Olympics is always participation, with winning as an icing on the cake, literally.
The Nigerian government, through the sports ministry, has often been one huge contradiction in the development and organisation of sports. Nigeria is one of the most blessed countries with human and material resources, but visionary leadership in all sectors seems to be lacking.
The participation of Nigeria in the on-going Paris’24 Olympics seems an eloquent validation of the incompetence of the sports ministry. First, it was the very embarrassing miss of the current national anthem of Nigeria after Tobi Amusan mounted the podium to receive her gold medal. That was followed by the sad realisation that Nigeria’s hopeful in the 100 meters race, Favour Ofili’s name had been omitted from the list. This is a second time this had happened; the first being in Tokyo 2020.
This painful embarrassment by the Nigerian Athletic Federation for an athlete who had prepared over four years might, like everything Nigerian, not have consequences. No one will be sacked; no queries would be issued, people will return to plan other failures! This is why tackiness by the sports ministry continues to recur in most global games. At some point, the Nigerian Football Federation forgot the jerseys of the players and they had to cut tracksuits for them to play in a global competition. No heads rolled. Favour Ofili dramatically seems to have no favour with the often estacode-chasing officials of the sports ministry and Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC).
Ofili has luckily qualified for the 200 meters event. Her lamentation in Paris shows the heartbreak of a young lady with potential and hard work, who has for the second time been messed up on a global sporting stage. We can only hope that those who committed this grave error can be punished. This tackiness is a national embarrassment and is the main reason most athletes with dual citizenship often opt to represent and win medals for other countries. A serious country has punishment and reward as a development agenda. We want to see Nigeria adopt a functional process.
