Since the participation of Nigeria in different sporting
competitions, the country has remained backward in its talent discovery,
raising fears over the future of sports in the country.
By Philips
Sunday
Not until some telecomm companies in the country came up with
under aged competitions especially in football, talent discovery was a
forgotten phenomenon. Grassroots development which is the bedrock of a
sustainable sports development has suffered epileptically from different sports
administrations.
When Tamuno Danagogo was appointed the minister of sports in
the country, some sports analyst and ex- internationals with oratorical skills
stressed that the appointment of ministers in the sporting sector should have
been narrowed down to personals that have represented the nation in various
sports, as this could help hasten development in the grassroots level.
| Okagbare: credit: sunnewsonline |
Talent hunting in the country has become a colossal problem
which demands an urgent attention if the cry for the lack of young talents to
replace the worn out legs in various fields will have to stop. Sports
enthusiasts have argued that the constant negligence of some individuals with
track record of success in each field has furthermore delayed this development.
Ex-footballers such as Segun Odegbami, Christian Chukwu and
Sprint queen Chioma Ajunma have been tipped by some Nigerians with the love of
sports to be given ministerial appointments in their field which could make an
instant impact in talent discovery as it has been argued, but with the
participation of former footballers like Austin Okocha, and former African
footballer of the year Victor Ikpeba in the technical aspect of the game,
discovery of talent was assumed to be their priority, but reverse seems to be
the case. When the country failed to qualify for the nations cup for a record
two times, after a 2 – 2 draw against South Africa in the recently commissioned
Akwa Ibom State stadium in Uyo, football loving fans in the country attributed
the poor performances of the team to the lack of a creative midfielder, while some
touted Manchester city young star Kelechi Iheanacho as a possible solution to
the long lasting problem.
Each year after a successful outing in any international
competitions, Nigeria fails to build up a team that can replicate the successes
of their predecessors why because grassroots developments have been neglected,
the nation is used to the fire brigade – approach of scouting for possible
participants in the event, rather than developing young individuals with great
skills that could bring glory to the country just like their counterparts in
other countries.
Another sport that have given Nigeria medals over the years,
have been athletics, but it has been the effort of only one person and that is
the African fastest woman Blessing Okagbare who has won the Olympic bronze
medal in Long Jump and a lot of other medals in different competitions. Indeed
her feat so far, has shown that youths in the country have enormous potentials
for greatness which if harnessed positively through adequate orientation and grooming
can bring great successes and positive changes in the country’s athletics.
Okagbare who was discovered years ago by her coach Daniel Etsebiminor has since
become a world recognized track and field star who is only waiting for the
Olympic gold medal to surpass the feat of Chioma Ajunwa in Athlanta 96. Many
fears Nigeria might not be able to find a replacement for her due to the fact
that most of the national monuments are not in good shape to enhance good
development of young talents. Sports like boxing, which was the means of
winning medals for the country decades ago, has seen a steady decline, table
tennis has been touted by analyst of the game to go suit, if the legend Aruna
Quadri retires.
Our source gathered that many sports in the country have gone
into the thin air because of lack of sponsorships from corporate bodies as well
as allocations from the government, most of the sports ministers appointed over
the years have placed emphases on football rather than sports, which therefore
reduces the rate at which talents are discovered and groomed in other sports
such as boxing, weight lifting, wrestling, badminton, athletics, taekwondo and
a lot more, it has been touted in some quarters that if this act is left
unchecked, the sporting sector will continue to suffer from this nemesis.
Okagbare in action: credit: youtube
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