Nigeria’s disappointing performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics has once again spotlighted the deep-seated issues plaguing the nation’s sports federations. Despite the hype and high hopes, our athletes returned home empty-handed, a stark reminder of the systemic rot and bureaucratic failures that have hindered progress. In this piece, Rt. Hon. Orok Otu Duke JP calls for bold and decisive action to reform Nigeria’s sports sector ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, urging the Honourable Minister to take the reins and lead us to a future of success and glory.
Excerpts below;
BE BOLD, GO FOR GOLD!!
(For Our Failure in Sports Olympics in Paris, 2024)
This title as an oxymoron,
Should not make us mourn.
We had gone to the XXXIII Sports Olympiad with hype
And hope,
With razzmatazz and fanfare,
But returned home bare.
We showed up for the ‘’Show’’,
But bowed out in a ‘’No Show’’.
Who goes to a gun-fight with a machete?
The rot and sleaze in our sports body is muted.
Malicious shenanigans, infractions
And deep seated mischief in all the Sports Federations should be booted.
Entrenched bureaucrats and parasites abound,
Wrestling and pinning mavericks and progress to the ground.
Every Nigerian athlete looked desolate;
Like a child waiting to be breastfed,
A writer without his dream;
A musician without a song –
The frustration was visibly palpable.
The Olympics that was lost in antiquity
And reborn in the modern era,
Has moved from the City of Lights
To the City of Angels;
From a recipe of Parisian delights
To Hollywood dreams –
Sports memories to last a lifetime.
Success is a mindset that does not rest on talents alone but by effort.
Efforts will drive you home,
When everyone expects you to give up,
Over matters that were executed before you came up.
When the clouds of doubt rain down on you,
Drag us from the canvas
And reposition us on the winning streak.
Shepherd us from the rain into sunshine:
Ginger, mollify and engineer another generation of sports enthusiasts.
In the XXXIV Sports Olympiad in Los Angeles in 2028,
Hon. Minister, be Bold and go for Gold;
You hold the yam, knife and mould,
You are able and enabled,
To clean the messed up Sports Augean Stable.
Rt. Hon. Orok Otu Duke JP
Duke Town
