Chioma Ajunwa, Nigeria’s first Olympic gold medallist, has criticised Team Nigeria’s performance at the just concluded Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Nigeria’s 19th debut at the Olympic Games resulted in no medals despite fielding 88 athletes in 12 sports. The performance was similar to the team’s performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games, where the country did not win any medals.
Anjuwa, speaking on Arise News on Monday, termed Team Nigeria’s performance in Paris as ‘unfortunate’. She stated, “It is depressing because every year, Nigeria tells this kind of story. If you recall, after the previous Olympics, it was still the same.
“You know they’ll keep telling us. Oh, let them go back to the drawing board, which we never see and don’t know how to sketch on. “It’s regrettable that we squandered the entire opportunity. And the athletes squandered their time, energy, and personal assets.
“It is quite unfortunate that Nigeria spent so much, but that one is not my business because we don’t spend that money when we are supposed to spend it.” Furthermore, Anjuwa stated that Nigeria did not attend the Olympics to compete for medals, but rather to “steal” them.
“We never planted; what we saw there was precisely what we cultivated. You cannot visit another person’s farm unless you done it on your own. Otherwise, they’ll call you a thief,” Anjuwa explained. “Every year, Nigeria aims to go and ‘thief’ medals.” Because the Olympics last four years, every country will immediately return to preparing.
They have given each country time to arrange for their athletes’ training, but here we return to our comfort zone, celebrate the money we made there, and invest in personal things rather than planning for how the country will move forward. “I cried like a baby when Ofili finally came in sixth and our highest medal hope Tobi Amusan missed [going to the final].”
Anjuwa also advocated for a reorganisation of the sports departments and an end to the practice of re-appointing administrators. Her words: “One thing the Federal Government should do is reform the sports departments; they should stop recycling old managers who have no idea what they’re doing.
When you put someone who understands his or her onions, we won’t be speaking in this manner. “When you hire someone who loves and is passionate about the office where he works, he or she will know exactly what to do at all times. Our concern is that we’re employing people who have no knowledge of sports or have never participated in one.
Following Nigeria’s poor performance at the games, Minister of Sports John Enoh apologised to Nigerians and promised to conduct a review of athletes, coaches, and administrative staff.
“It definitely fell short of our aims, as well as Nigerians’ expectations and desires. “I must apologise to our compatriots and reflect on what went wrong while looking forward to the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 (August 28-September 8th),” the message reads in part.
