Demerits in Merits

The national sports awards may have come and gone but the memories and lapses on the part of organisers still lingers in the collective memories of all.

The event took place in Abuja on Tuesday 9th December amidst a large gathering of technocrats and who is who in the Nigeria sports scene. It was a pathetic gathering and somewhat intriguing to hear that some legends and heroes are being neglected in place of mediocrity and political big-wigs.

Forgoten Heroes
The name Dele Udoh may have long been forgotten but his ghost will certainly haunt the hearts of dedicated journalists and officials in the land if nothing is quickly done.In the 80's as a brilliant athlete, Udoh was gunned down in his prime whilst in the country from his base in the United States, by unknown gunmen and up till date nothing has been done to immortalize the deceased.

According to a Cairo based Sports Analyst Eric Asomugha, He said: "The gathering in Abuja is a charade when there are great heroes to be rewarded like Dele amongst others, and to be honest with you there is more to his death than the reported incident" he recounts.

"It's just too sad that we do not appreciate what some people have done in the past, the case of Dele Udo is pathetic and sad to recall, Contrary to what was reported and still is being reported, he was not going out to look for food but on the contrary he was killed and we should just leave it at that" he said in a sad tone.

Sadly, some other notable ignored legends include Late Oluyemi Kayode, a former Nigerian star athlete who passed away couple of years back in the United States. Namibian star sprinter, Frankie Fredricks had during the last 8th All Africa Games recounts that the Late Ekiti sprinter was his training partner before he died, lamenting on his inability to be present during his burial.

Speaking further, he said "You need to know how close we were, you’ve never had an athlete like him" he paid a glowing tribute to the Barcelona ’92 Olympic silver medalist.

The national award ceremony bounced back after a decade of inactivity and organisers hope to touch every aspect of sports in Nigeria. " We hope to touch people's life with these awards, so they will know that Nigeria shows appreciation in our own little ways" says Professor Lasun Emiola, Chairman of the organising committee