The Paris 2024 Olympics has officially ended and our dear Team Nigeria is returning home without a single medal, despite the substantial financial investment, I feel compelled to express my deep disappointment with the performance of our team and their handlers.
What we’ve witnessed once again is the recklessness and lack of accountability that has plagued leadership across various sectors in our nation. Nigeria’s international image has become a laughingstock, and this latest Olympic performance only reinforces that unfortunate perception.
How can we explain that a country like Jamaica, which spent less than 5% of what we did on its Olympic contingents, managed to win six medals? Meanwhile, despite our massive financial outlay and large contingent, we failed to secure even one.
At least nine African countries returned with gold medals, yet the so-called “Giant of Africa,” with over 200 million people, came back empty-handed. We invested approximately N12 billion in this year’s Olympics—nearly twice the budget of the entire Ministry of Science and Technology. This translates to over N136 million (about $85,000) spent on each of the 88 Nigerian athletes sent to the Olympics, and not a single medal was won. In contrast, Jamaica, a nation that spent far less—about $2,300 per athlete—won six medals: one gold, three silver, and two bronze.
We must urgently investigate the relationship between this massive investment and our dismal outcome. These disappointing results persist because we continue to prioritize routine and favoritism over competence and capacity in Nigeria.
Consider the case of Favour Ofili, a Nigerian professional sprinter who trained for years for the 2024 Olympics, only to have her name recklessly and wrongly removed from the list of athletes for the 100m race by Nigerian sporting authorities.
What can be said about Annette Echikunwoke, a former Nigerian hammer thrower who was so frustrated by the same administrative incompetence that she switched her allegiance to the United States, where she went on to win a medal in the recently concluded Olympics.
These are the same athletes who were denied the opportunity to represent Nigeria at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics for similarly inexplicable reasons. I have it on good authority that some injured athletes, who were not physically fit to represent the country and did not compete in the ongoing Olympics, were still present in Paris, receiving allowances from our national resources. Additionally, some sports officials and others who had no legitimate reason to be at the Olympics were there too, living large on the government’s dime while our nation was crashing out of every event.
One of our athletes, Ese Ukpeseraye, even had to borrow a bicycle to compete in her event! How can such recklessness and incompetence be justified?
What a country! What a shame! When will we put an end to these disgraceful practices that continuously rob our nation of golden opportunities for positive change? I urge the government to investigate these gross misconducts and ensure that those responsible are held accountable. We must build a nation founded on discipline and commitment to duty, where competence and capacity reign supreme. This is the New Nigeria we aspire to create, and it is possible.
Peter Obi
