False start for athletics in Olympic year

The event in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, was to herald in earnest the quest for honours in the 2004 athletics season, incidentally the year of the Olympic Games, the world's biggest assemblage of sportsmen and women.

For the Athletics Federation of Nigeria [AFN] and the Federal Ministry of Sports, the competition in Budapest was supposed to be a prelude to the big fiesta in Athens.

Characteristically, Nigeria featured representatives only in the track events, precisely the sprints. Mary Onyali-Omagbemi and Endurance Ojokolo participated in the 60metres dash, while Olusoji Fasuba and Aaron Egbele ran in the men's version.

Surprisingly, none of the sprinters made it to the finals of their respective races, not even Fasuba who had returned impressive times shortly before the World Indoor.

Athletics pundits assert that the result in Budapest was not a strange development as a similar fate had befallen the country's ambassadors to the last World Indoor in Birmingham, England.

They contend that the Budapest debacle is an indication of a looming disaster that the Athens Olympics might turn out to be for Nigeria in track and field.

But the AFN president Dan Ngerem disagrees with this assertion, claiming that Budapest might have been bad for his athletes, Athens would definitely be rewarding if the sports authorities lived up to their responsibilities.

"As far as I'm concerned, the athletes did very well”, he says.

"They gave their all considering the circumstance surrounding their preparations and general well being".

He went on to raise posers on government's commitment to sports development and welfare of athletes in and outside the country.” What did Nigeria give them? What we put in we get, that is my Philosophy. The athletes were not supported, nobody knew how they got to Budapest, and they were practically on their own.

"How do you reconcile a situation whereby a tiny island like Budapest with a population of 170,000 people, give $19,000-a-year to each of her elite athletes while a big country like Nigeria give little or next to nothing to her athletes?” he queried.

Prodded on the seeming over reliance of sports associations on government for support, Ngerem disclosed that the AFN had indeed enjoyed patronage from few corporate bodies however the number is
Insignificant compared to the motley crowd of blue chip companies in the country.

"Of course we appreciate the support of companies like MTN, the Nigerian Breweries, FILA, UNIC and Mobil. But this is a drop in the ocean where we have not less than 200 such outfits.

"The government conceded their demand for tax rebate, yet these companies are hesitant in patronising sports. Be that as it may, the government must do its bit and this bit could go a long way to spur the athletes to success, we saw that during the last All Africa Games".

The athletics season in Nigeria got underway recently with competition at the Ibadan leg of the revised zonal clasics.

The classics will dovetail into the All Nigeria Championships which serve as trials for the Olympic Games in Athens.

It will be recalled that Nigeria won her first ever gold at the Olympics in athletics, courtesy of Chioma Ajunwa in the female long jump event of Atlanta'96.

Report by: Dipo Okubanjo