OLYMPICS: “No gold, no silver, no bronze, N2.3 bn down the drain”

The
story of Nigeria
at the 2012
London Olympics
is “No gold, no
silver, no bronze,
N2.3 billion down
the drain.”
And now a top
Nigerian sports
official who is a
member of an
international
sports federation
wants the
federal
government to
compel the
sports ministry
to account for
how they spent
the N2.3 billion
government
released for the
Olympic Games
which ended in
London
yesterday. He
would not have
his name on print.
He said the
ministry should
disclose how
much they
released to each
sports
association that
presented a
team to the
Olympic Games.
Athletics,
Weightlifting,
Taekwondo
(athletes)
Canoeing (one
athlete),
Wrestling,
Basketball, Table
Tennis and
Boxing
associations
presented teams
at the games. All
the athletes
were 51. The
number of
officials was still
unknown as
there were many
who were not
accredited and,
consequently,
were not useful
to the athletes.
They stayed in
their hotels to
watch the
games on
television. This
irked the Nigerian
official and he
described the
action of the
ministry as
“wasteful.”
He said it was
necessary for
the ministry to
disclose the
allocations to
each association
because of what
he called “the
wrong decisions”
that partly
affected
Nigeria’s
preparation to
the games.
Flags of various
nations, including
Norway (C) and
Nigeria (2nd-R),
are displayed
during the closing
ceremony of the
2012 London
Olympic Games at
Olympic Stadium on
August 12, 2012 in
London. Rio de
Janeiro will host
the 2016 Olympic
Games. AFP PHOTO
The official said
the following:
“Taekwondo
that presented
two athletes
was given over
N65m to prepare
while Athletics
that had over
100 athletes but
which they
pruned to 28 for
the Olympics
was given
N131m.
Basketball which
had to travel to
Venezuela for
their qualifying
tournament was
given N75m for
all their
preparation
including the
tournament in
Venezuela. The
rest of the
sports did not
get more than
N500,000. And
yet N2.3 billion
was released for
the Olympic
games. But the
money came in
installments and
it came so late
that nothing
much could be
done with the
last installment.
This is not the
way to prepare
for the Olympic
Games. The
people who
disbursed the
money took
wrong decisions
and now the
athletes are
saying that they
did not prepare
well. The
ministry is to
blame.”
A coach in one of
the teams
admitted that
Nigeria lacked
world class
athletes and that
even if more
billions of money
were approved
the money would
have still gone
down the drain
as “you cannot
perform magic
over night in
sports, you build
over a period of
time.”
The last time
Nigeria left the
Olympic Games
without a medal
was 24 years
ago in the Seoul
Olympic Games
of 1988.