•Emedolu Photo: Sun News Publishing

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Uchenna Emedolu may have, once again, lost another opportunity to represent Nigeria in any sports championship. Not after he dashed the hope of millions of Nigerians on Thursday when he dropped the 4x100m relay race baton at the just concluded Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Nigeria was coasting home after USA, South Africa and Poland had fallen by the wayside and Nigeria had just the Bahamas and Jamaica to contend with. But in a jiffy, the worst happened! Anchorman, Emedolu, had done it again. He dropped the baton at the most crucial moment and the whole world went crazy.

While he walked out of the stadium like a bereaved man, his colleagues, Ngwogu Onyeabor, Metu Obinna and Oriala Chinedu were dazed and speechless. It was like a thunderbolt had hit them.
"It was a nightmare," Oriala said afterwards. "I can't believe this. We had great hope that we would win something. But it has gone again."

Moments after the disgrace, Nigerians in Beijing raised alarm: "It was a great sabotage. Why must it be Emedolu? He did it to spite the National Sports Commission (NSC) because he's close to a former Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) president." So many reasons were given.
A few months ago, Emedolu dashed Nigeria's hope of winning gold in Ethiopia at the African Athletics Championship where he dropped the baton in a bizarre manner. And Director General of the NSC, Dr Amos Adamu, had ordered for a probe, but the Director of Sports Development, Chief Patrick Ekeji, who was in Addis Ababa then to pay the athletes their yearly grant of $10,000, doused the tension, defending the culprit that such things happen in relay. Emedolu, thereafter escaped the hangman's noose, but not without being reprimanded by Chief Ekeji, who warned him never to sin again.

Even when Adamu met with the relay team at the Games Village before leaving for the stadium on Thursday, he had jokingly told Emedolu that he hope he would not drop the baton this time around. Little did the DG know that he was making a prophetic statement. And when the baton fell off the anchorman's feeble hand, Adamu was the first to cry foul.
"I said that this boy should not run for Nigeria again. Can you see what he has done yet again. This is sabotage; it was deliberate. Oh! God, this is sad. Nigeria would have won gold in this race after US, Poland and South Africa had fallen aside. We will probe this...."

One of the athletics coaches in Beijing, Gabriel Okon argued: "We never wanted to use him. It was Emedolu in Ethiopia and now he has done it again. We wanted Olusoji Fasuba to rest his leg for the final, so we asked Emedolu to take Fasuba's place. If we had known, we would have forced Fasuba to run. Unfortunately, there's no opportunity for us to redress the damage."

Secretary of the AFN, Maria Wophil, literally swore that the act was nothing but a calculated sabotage. She said that even if it was natural, the culprit did not show enough remorse.
"Must it be Emedolu again!" Wophil lamented. "Oga (Adamu) said that we should investigate him after he dropped the baton in Ethiopia, but we felt it was just one of the happenings in relay. This is painful. We have lost yet another gold medal hope.

"Well, I can't say anything now, but I know that something would be done. There's more to the baton dropping that meets the eyes."
Team Nigeria captain, Bose Kaffo, said it was sad that Nigeria lost the golden opportunity to win the 4x100m relay, but would not want to comment on whether it was an act of sabotage or not.
"Everybody is sad. That's all I can say for now," Bose said on phone.