Nigeria's CWG Commitment Queried

C/wealth Games: Non-Resumption of Camping Criminal –Ebewele
By Duro Ikhazuagbe, 01.23.2006

T he non-resumption of camping of Nigerian athletes from the Christmas break to continue preparations for the Commonwealth Games scheduled for March in Melbourne, Australia has been described as ‘criminal’.

Brown Ebewele, director of the Edo State Sports Council told THISDAYSports at the weekend in Lagos that the inability of the athletes to resume their training because of the non provision of necessary tools for the various camps was the surest way to failing to win medals in Australia.

“This is very sad. I do not know how any sane person will expect these athletes who have been out of camp before Christmas to rush into Australia to win gold medals. Sports business is not done that way. You reap what you sow,” observed the former national decathlon record holder.

Ebewele said he found it very amusing to hear Nigerians saying that we will go to Melbourne and win not less than five gold medals in athletics and other sports.

“How do you want to achieve that? Let me refresh your memory if you’ve forgotten. In 1994 when we went to Victoria (Canada), Nigeria won six gold medals in weightlifting alone.
" Mary Onyali won the women’s 100m and our male 4 x 100m team set new records in that event. It was through hard work. Before the games, you could feel the strength of our athletes, perhaps due to the kind of training they had. Can you say the same for this team heading for Melbourne? Besides, should we still be talking of winning five medals when we won six gold in just one sport 12 years ago?” queried the track coach fondly called Juju man.

On the Mobil Commonwealth Games trial scheduled for February 9-11, the Edo Sports Council boss believes that it was well timed because all serious minded athletes should have programmed their training in such a way that “they should be in top shape to compete for places in the team heading for Australia.”

He agreed that in this indoor season Nigerian athletes of note hardly feature since they would not want to disrupt their schedule for the Commonwealth Games.

Ebewele particularly feels sad that there are hardly any Nigerian athletes one can count upon now to do the magic in track and field.
"Unlike before when you find between two and three Nigerians featuring in the finals of both the Olympics and the World Championships can you boast of the same situation at present?

Yet some small people who just want to earn estacode are branding me a prophet of doom for telling them the reality of the present situation of our sports!”
Earlier in the week, a high level official of the sports ministry had confided in THISDAYSports that the plan to have Nigerian athletes camp in the United States for month before the Games in Melbourne was still on the card.

Ahahahah… :frowning:

The athletes were advised there will be Commonwealth Trials on 9 February about 10 days ago. How can they be prepared to compete if they don’t know when to compete?
Money is a key issue with African athletes and they plan these Trials during meetings season (preparation for Trials and for meetings is a different thing…)

Why does Nigeria have less medals than before? Because people like Obikwelu or Alozie now brings medals to Portugal or Spain. The real question they should work on is “why do they all leave or want to leave?”.

Why would the athletes go to training camps where they have no choice but to follow the training camp’s coach program, while these athletes all train with foreign coaches.
Mary Onyali, the role model according to Ebewele, was at Texas University, hardly a pure Nigerian product… Now they want to make training camps in USA, because mary is still there and wants to open training camps in Houston. West Germany has failed to build a system in Nigeria in the 70’s. Hard to build something in this country, that’s sad but that’s the way it is.

I SAY THREE CHEERS FOR THE ADMINISTRATORS OF SPORT AND POLITICANS OF NIGERIA FOR THE CHAOS WHICH INEVITABLY GOES HAND-IN-GLOVE WITH EVERYTHING ABOUT NIGERIAN SPORT. :rolleyes:

If it was not for such nitwits, few nations would be able to survive against the incredible speed-power talent which comes from this and other West African nations. :slight_smile:

It was most gracious of the Nigerian Federation to fuck up their athletes on behalf of your country! I trust you will show equal appreciation for the Job Athletics Canada is doing on behalf of your medal count as well!

It’s astounding to read how assholes like this can pass off their own incompetence as the athletes’ fault.
When, in the time since Victoria in 1994, did he “discover” that trials and camps would be critical to success? TEN DAYS AGO!
What did he just learn now that he ought not to have known 11 month-NO, ELEVEN YEARS AGO!?!
I’ve seen it all before, sometimes here, sadly.
If the athletes do come back now, and, if, predictably, they are injured as a result of the monkeywrench he’s thrown in their long-term plan, I’ll put money on this dipshit saying that it was their decision and they didn’t really have to come back at all!

Ambrose Ezenwa (nothing to do with Ezinwa twins), 28 years old, silver medallist at African Champs in 2004, PBs 100m 10.18 (2006, World Leading performance) and 200m 20.49 (2005), will take part to Commwealth Games with Australian team. An other loss for Nigeria.