We did our best
By Morakinyo Abodunrin, Athens
Saturday, August 28, 2004

To say that this is the worst performance by Team Nigeria in the Olympics is perhaps, stating the obvious. Nigerians watched in disbelief as tiny African countries like Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and the rest found their ways into the medal table with few days to the end of the 28th Olympiad in Athens.

The Games did come back home as thousands of Greeks revelled in the joy of the occasion, but not so for Nigerians as the athletes fell down to earth.
Where did it all go wrong, following the noise that trailed Team Nigeria's performance at the last All Africa Games in Abuja?

In the euphoria, Chief Patrick Ekeji, the Director of Sports in the Ministry of Sports and Development boasted that Nigeria would return from Athens with 10 solid gold medals. Ironically, it has been out pouring of grief as Team Nigeria crash-landed, but Ekeji, who doubles as the deputy Chef de Mission for the Athens 2004, has stated that the lessons learned in Athens would serve the country well in the future.

"I'm not surprised about the performance of the athletes at the Games. As a Nigerian, I wanted the best for the country and I believe in the capability of our athletes. We are naturally endowed and I felt with a little push, we can do well at these Olympics. Giving my abiding faith in Team Nigeria, I set a personal target of 10 gold medals for the athletes because I believe we can do it!

"Who says that it's not attainable? The athletes have done their best but we have also seen that their best were just not enough. That means we must work hard for the future.
“I have always been bothered by the welfare of our athletes and we have done our best given the circumstances we have. But it has shown that two or three months of preparations were not enough for the Olympics. This is the first time our athletes would be camped this long for the Olympics. We had plan to go into camp after the All Africa Games but the athletes went straight for the Afro-Asian Games in India. Money was not released on time and all these affected our plans.

"Personally, I'm happy about the fact that we set a standard about the calibre of athletes we were taking to the Olympics. Most of the athletes that we took to the Olympics are the best on the continent in their respective events. Every other sport had to go through a qualifying tournament, so, I was confident we were going to do well.
The 10-gold medals target was the driving force for me and that was why I stated so during the fare well dinner for Team Nigeria.

Table Tennis
"The players gave their best but our players were poorly ranked because they have not been attending many international championships. None of the players were among the best 50 in the world and there was little we could do about that. Now we have to find the means and ways that would allow the players to attend international competitions since it would enhance their ranking and opportunity of winning silverwares.

Swimming
"Some have asked why we brought swimmers to the Olympics. First, we have to start from somewhere and we should not forget the fact that the chairman of the swimming federation in person of Gov. Odili of Rivers State, have supported the sport so much. So, when we secured the wildcards from the international swimming federation, we had to take such opportunity. The experience and the exposure got by the swimmers would be useful in future.

The same goes for judo and wrestling. When you have a wildcard for an event, it means you even stand no chance from the outset. But we can't quantify the experience the athletes would be taking home from Athens.

Super Falcons
"The truth is that I was worried with the Falcons' performance despite the fact that we won the gold at the All Africa Games. Their performance was totally below standard expected at the level of the Olympics. But we are all proud about their performance at the Olympics. The training tour in Germany was so useful as our girls were able to match the rest of the world. With a little bit of luck, the Falcons would have reached the semi-final at least.

" If they had come to Athens with their All Africa Games' form, we would have all buried our heads in shame. May be some of the matches would have ended 9-0 against the Falcons. But the girls gave their best and we are all proud of them.

Athletics
"It's unfortunate that our athletes were not able to produce their AAG form at these Olympics. I must admit that I'm scared about where our next set of athletes would come from. I don't want to brood about what was not done in the past because we have already put plans in progress for the next Olympic Games in Beijing. We have to start the preparation now. We have identified some athletes during the last National Sports Festival and after these Games, we would be looking at the way forward for our sports in general.

Obikwelu
"As a Nigerian I'm proud that Francis Obikwelu won the silver medal in the 100m. But it was so unfortunate that he was running for another country, and we all saw that he was not even comfortable celebrating his hard-earned victory with the Portuguese flag.

Obikwelu's performance has reinforced my belief that our athletes can compete against the rest of the world. Somebody said Obikwelu and others changed their nationalities because of the poor welfare for our athletes. I beg to differ, it's not only about money and I think it has to do with self worth.
"We must create the enabling environment for our athletes for them to compete against the rest of the world. Availability of the right environment would help the course of Team Nigeria. It has nothing to do with camp allowances alone but an overall package that would help our athletes. We have started working in this regard and I'm hopeful it would bear fruits in the future.

Future of Team Nigeria
"I have a dream about Team Nigeria and I think if we are consistent about what we are doing, we would start reaping the fruits very soon. We are doing everything possible so that the future of Team Nigeria is well secured, and that's the reason we had to seek the support of Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE). Mrs. Ndi Okeke Onyuke, the NSE Director was one of our guests here at the Olympics and I believe the experience would put her in a better frame to work for Team Nigeria even more.

"Of course, we made an inroad during the last Governors' Conference in Abuja. We would continue to seek the support of the Governors because they have the wherewithal to help the development of our sports. Look at what Governor Odili has done to swimming, same for Yobe State governor in hockey, Gov. Igbinedon in boxing. I think we are getting out of the woods gradually.
"It would be wrong on my part to state categorically when Team Nigeria would be ready to compete favourably against the rest of the world. We would continue to turn the spade... I believe that as a team, we can achieve so much.

From now on, we should be looking at the sports we have the comparative advantages in order to do well at future international competitions and I believe that the future of Team Nigeria is bright indeed."