Nigeria’s participation at the just concluded Rio Olympic Games can be said to be both shoddy and disastrous. Different news kept on blazing up & down even before the games about the all-too-known-fie-brigade-approach naija is now known for.

But to say the U-23 Soccer team defied all odds is saying …. The Sports Minister himself must have placed a bet on the fellas getting to the Semis and even going all the way to bagging a “Golden_BRONZE” …. How ecstatic does that sound especially when you get a fellow Naija-Man to give you a lecture on the exploits of the boys…. (the words “wow” and “mikel” wont be far from their lips I bet you lol).

http://www.optimasports.com.ng/arise-o-sport-patriots/

In hindsight though, The games re-introduced Nigerians to the re-birth of a New-Star (no pun intended), Our own John Michael (spelled Mikel) Obi…. He shone like a thousand stars and even got some fellas at a Beer-Palor (that I saw one of games) saying he deserves a Ballon-D’Or soonest if he continued like this (insert laughter here lol) ….. and the basis of this was and is the old saying amongst Nigerians whenever Mikel I called … saying atleast he was as good as the Almighty Messi @ the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship where he won the Silver Ball for the second best player at the tourneys after Nigeria lost the final to the Messi-Led Argentina (1-2) in the Final. Well, Yea!!!!… they do have a point but being involved in a mess so early in his footballing career between Chelsea, Manchester United & his Oslo club over … I signed for you first.. I paid more money… I was forced to sign for you drama … really didn’t help his cause. AND also being deployed by the Almighty Jose Mourinho to a slightly deeper role than what his darling fans in Nigeria were used to also didn’t go down well…. Till date lol.

All in all, the boy is a serial winner as we all know….. he boasts of League Cups, Big-Eared_UEFA Champs League Cup, EPL titles, FA Cups, Europa Cup just off the tip of my finger BUT what endeared him much more to Nigerians at the RIO-Games was his Obvious coming of Age… He showed alotta maturity that not just being a captain can offer…. He was able to rally the troops inspite of the seemingly bad circumstances that plagued them – from the very outrageously late arrival at Rio, to bonus & wages disputes, to in-fighting and to lack of / total absence of organization from the “Big-Administrators @ the NFF GlassHouse” …. He even went as well paying the wages of the fellas at a point whilst the Amaju Pinnick & Solomon Dalung Camp continued their samba-dance of shame.

If all of this had happened in any other nation with the celebratory outcome that we saw, you can be sure a blockbuster movie will have been lined up to portray the Heroes.

Yes, they were Naija’s only heroes at the Rio-Olympic Games as other athletes from other different sports all huffed & puffed their way back home – Well, you might say a few records were broken… well.. yes.. In Tennis & Rowing for the distinguished Nigerians that took part in those sports but unfortunately there was no medal dangling off their necks .

>>Special recognition goes to Chierika Ukogu who against all Odds of Nigeria never competing in Rowing in the history of the Games… qualified, trained and sponsored herself to Rio and also through out Rio; I really hope her story inspires young ladies/young people out there to thrive for excellence regardless of the many limitations of the country we live in (‘cos yeaaaa.. the limitations abound aplenty lol) … And also to Aruna Quadri & Segun ‘the veteran’ Toriola for their individual feats in Tennis @ the Games.

All those that were charged in preparing all the Athletes for the Rio Summer Olympic Games should be held accountable and heads should roll (not literarily though ☺).

Looking forward,

We need more private participation at every strata of our sports, We need to bring in Adminstrators that wont be out to cater for their pockets first but will be ready to work for the good of our sports. (though I know someone is outhere saying “where man dey work na him.. him dey chop – Work-Chop” mmmmmmm… Ma Naija People abeg embrace Change lol).

We need to make our sports also more lucrative for Private companies to want to splash the Ca$h. Lets strive to be an independent Sports ministry with less dependency on the Government.

We need more emphasis right back to Basic underground development – Lets bring back the Secondary School games so we can use that to start to build talents in all sports and not just Soccer/Football. Lets go back to our communities and start inter-street games. Lets get to the Riverine areas and sort for swimmers to teach how to be the next Michael Phelps and not swimmers that will dive to the bottom of the pool lol. Lets resurrect the NUGA games for what it really once was – a real serious avenue to tap them university talents.

Lets learn to honor our heroes – both alive & dead because in doing that the athletes we have vying for Glory under Project_Nigeria will know those that have gone ahead of them are valued and so they will also get the same if not better treatment from the Nigeria Populace.
Lets feed the Egos of our Heroes – take a selfie with the next hero you see, ask how they are doing, show concern and help those not in active service again that need it. Lets set us organizations & outfits that will be solely charged with due Welfare Packages the way we see it done in the developed nations.

Lets get our stadiums to look like stadiums and not just a zone infested with weed and wildlife. Lets encourage school & bodies to use the stadium facilities solely/majorly for Sport-related functions as this will definitely have a ripple effect on our Sports.
Lets get back our patriotism – Lets try and imbibe the culture where the Nigeria and upholding the name of the nation comes first in our thinking.

…. Arise ‘O’ Sport-patriots ….

culled from Optimasports.com.ng by Tunde David
http://www.optimasports.com.ng/arise-o-sport-patriots/