Sluggish Race to 2016 Olympics

The buzz, excitement and concern are at fever pitch across the globe as the 2016 Olympics is set to officially start today in Rio de Janeiro. More than 10,500 athletes have earned spots to compete in 28 sports and 306 events. During the roughly two weeks of competition, dreams will come true for some athletes […]

The buzz, excitement and concern are at fever pitch across the globe as the 2016 Olympics is set to officially start today in Rio de Janeiro. More than 10,500 athletes have earned spots to compete in 28 sports and 306 events. During the roughly two weeks of competition, dreams will come true for some athletes and hopes will be dashed for others.
Nigeria will be represented by 86 athletes, competing in 10 events in Rio, namely athletics, football, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, table tennis, rowing, canoeing, swimming and basketball. But after a shoddy preparation marred by lack of proper planning, controversies,  mix-ups in logistics and bureaucratic red-tape, there are palpable fears that Team Nigeria may be headed for another woeful outing at the Rio Olympics, just like it happened at London 2012.
Certainly, a team of barely motivated athletes whose spirits have already been defeated before the games start stands no chance against countries that take themselves seriously and started preparations for the Games as soon as the last Olympics ended.
Just less than 24 hours to their opening match against Japan, the Olympic football team was stranded in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where it spent time on training tour. Reports suggested that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Nigerian government had not paid for the last leg of the journey, a charter flight from the US to Brazil. Officials of the NFF called this a “logistical mix-up.”
The athletes’ trainings were marred by the lack of payment of camp allowances, poor facilities, and poor feeding, with the Sports Ministry complaining of non-release of funds by the Federal Government. Some of them said they were not sure they could properly compete under such stress.
Three of the athletes turned to  a crowd-sourcing fund website to raise money to go to Rio. This ugly scenario was precipitated by an email sent by an official of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Olumide Bamiduro, asking athletes to purchase their own tickets to Rio and they would be refunded.
On its part, it was only on July 19 that President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly ordered the release of funds for the Olympics. What country does that in preparation for a major event?
Again, there was the unresolved issue of ‘unaccounted’ N2.9billion approved by the president for the 2015 All Africa Games and 2016 Olympics qualification in July last year to former Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC),  Alhassan Yakmut. The Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, has been in dispute with Yakmut, over how the money was spent. Dalung insisted he was in the dark over how the money was spent. But Yakmut claimed the minister actually met a balance of N654m from the released funds, adding that Dalung was not properly briefed on how the money was spent. However, part of the N654m balance should have been used in prosecuting the training and tours of Team Nigeria ahead of Rio Games, while the dispute was being resolved.
The late preparation for Rio 2016 Olympic cannot be justified, considering the fact that Nigeria had four years to prepare for this event. The NFF should put its acts together and in future ensure long-term preparations for international competitions of this nature.
From all indications officials in the sports sector were interested in personal gains rather than aiding athletics to realize their life-long ambition and leap Nigeria to the podium of glory. The country must be put first.  Government must give athletes a sense of belonging, instead of abandoning them as if they do not represent a sovereign state. The sports ministry and NFF should be investigated to ensure that if there is any act of corruption in the system, leading to this sluggish preparation for Olympics 2016, perpetrators should be punished. 
Despite these wobbly preparations, Nigerians should be hopeful that the determination and fighting spirit of the athletes would see one or more of their own win medals and  climb the podium in Rio.