By Kunle Solaja
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Expectedly, Team Nigeria did not come out tops as the curtain fell on the African Games in Brazzaville at the weekend. The Nigerian contingent did not also pretend it was the team to beat. The top position, as usual, had been ceded for contest between Egypt and South Africa. Occasionally, another Maghreb nation, Tunisia, was expected to make a foray at the top position as it happened at Algiers ’78 following the withdrawal of Egypt midway into the games.
While Egypt and South Africa, as usual, struggled for the top of the medals’ table, the wildest ambition of Team Nigeria was to take the third position. What a surrender! Well, realistically too, one cannot expect them to fare better, considering the configuration of multidiscipline contests such as the African Games, Commonwealth Games and what is aptly described as the “Greatest Show on Earth”, the Olympic Games.
What has given room for concern is not just the position that Team Nigeria occupies on the final medals table, but the gap between the top seeds and Nigeria. There is over 30 gold medal gap between Nigeria and Egypt while overall; the gap is over 100 medals. The last time that happened was in 1991 Cairo Games where the gold medal gap between Egypt and second placed-Nigeria was 57. This is a far cry from the one gold medal difference of Abuja 2003 or the seven gold medal difference of Lagos 1973.
What is responsible for Egypt’s dominance and that of South Africa? It is simply putting more emphasis on medal-laden sports discipline. The simple strategy of toping medals’ table at not just the African Games, but also the more significant Commonwealth and Olympic Games, is to scramble for gold in the lesser-known but highly lucrative sports disciplines. At the just concluded African Games, 42 gold medals were at stake in swimming. These medals were there just for Egypt and South Africa to share! Of the 42 gold medals, South Africa scooped more than half – 25 while Egypt took 11, leaving six other countries on the medals’ table to scramble for paltry six gold medals.
Even the silver and bronze medals were amassed by both South Africa and Egypt to establish dominance of the overall table. It is relatively more lucrative and less expensive for a team to field swimmers in African Games or the Olympics. At the 1973 games in Lagos, one swimmer, Faten Afifi had seven of the overall 25 gold medals that earned Egypt the top position. In more recent time, America’s Michael Phelps won eight gold medals from the pool at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. It has been remarked that if Phelps were a country, he would rank 35 on all-time Olympic gold medal list ahead of 97 nations.
In Brazzaville, Egypt’s Ahmed Akram won four gold medals in swimming. You can then see the Egypt’s economic sense of dropping out in the more expensive football event where no fewer than 23 players will have to be maintained and having to struggle all through the competition for just one medal!
The pertinent question then is where are the potential Nigerian gold medallists in swimming who are expected to shoot the country to the top on medals’ tables? Some have argued that physiological make up of a man determines his efficacy in swimming. Hence, whites and Arabs are more adapted to be better swimmers. But what about those whose natural habitats make swimming a way of life? Have we invested enough in them?
One wonders why Nigeria has not made a conscious effort to invest in raising swimmers from the Niger Delta region where water has been their natural habitat. If they can swim, sometimes against the tide, you can imagine what their performance would be swimming in still water environment provided by the pool.
In doing this, the country will also be tackling the problem of youth restiveness in the region as some of these youths have the potentials of being global sports personalities if well groomed. The multi-national oil firms in the region may have impaired the natural economic activities of the region. The oil firms can contribute to the sporting growth of the area by funding construction and maintenance of swimming pools in all local government areas of the Niger Delta. This will help to revive the latent talents in swimming which account for the bulk of medals in multi-event sports fiestas.
This brings to fore, the application of the economic principle of comparative advantage. As in international trade, Nigeria should begin to look up to some sports that are indigenous to its citizens in order to make greater marks in future African Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. This may not be a short-term plan, but a long term and sustainable projection.
The lesser-known sports should be considered and nurtured. The United States, Australia, China and Russia which always have impressive Olympic Games’ outings did not rely solely on football or any team event which only helps in shooting up the contingents’ sizes and expenditure without having corresponding impact on overall medal achievements.
Archery, canoeing, rowing, diving and equestrian sports among others are indigenous to some parts of Nigeria and the indigenes are naturally endowed with latent talents. Canoeing has become part of normal life in the riverine areas. Perhaps a national sports association could standardise this normal human activity into competitive sport that will help nurture future Olympic champions.
Archery and horsemanship are indigenous to the North. If the late Tony Ikazoboh’s policy of decentralising the locations of sports association instead of their clustering in either Lagos or Abuja is adopted, then a sports federation for archery and equestrian sports should be located somewhere in the North where talents abound. The high altitude areas, especially the famous Mambilla Plateau should have association for endurance sports including marathon and the long distance races.
Walking has become a way of life in most cities of Nigeria. With proper teaching of the rules, talents for the Olympic Games will not be in short supply in Lagos area and most urban centres where chaotic transport system has inadvertently created the enabling environment for prospective Olympic medallists in walking.
In summary, one is advocating that Nigeria should identify why other countries do well at international meets and we play second fiddle.
