Eugene Upah|12 August 2017
And why they cannot tell Mr. President the truth
A 12 year old sprinting sensation was discovered in Jamaica earlier this year. Her name is Brianna Lyston. Predictions are that her future exploits may dwarf that of Usain Bolt. She should be dominating the Youth and Junior World Athletics Championships for the next four to six years. Thereafter, she and others in her age category at this year’s Jamaican Boys and Girls Championships will benefit from expert coaching and take over elite sprinting in the world for the next ten years, barring any career terminating injuries. That is the way the Jamaican Athletics program is structured to operate.
Athletics is now part of the Jamaican culture and tradition. This is why they have one of the best sports development programs in the world. Great athletes must be produced on a continuous basis to move up the age group ladder and eventually replace the ageing elites. Like a well-oiled assembly line, the process must be deliberate and the results predictable. Jamaica is continuously fine-tuning and improving their program and at the rate they are going, they may continue to dominate the short and long sprints around the world for very many years to come.
A United States based sports consulting firm, Kimasports implemented a Comprehensive Sports Development Program (CSDP) for Cross River State from 2009 to 2015, which benefited from the American and Jamaican models. Before the commencement of the program, some Nigerian coaches and government administrators spent time in Jamaica interacting with their coaches and officials, and studying their program model. Thereafter, they went back annually for three years trying to establish linkage and partnership support in training local game masters and coaches. They brought one of the national coaches to Nigeria along with six others from USA and Cuba to work with them. The CRS program produced numerous national champions in various age categories; African champions, finalists at the IAAF World Youth and Junior Championships, Commonwealth Games Medals, African Games Medals, and the women 200 meters gold medal at the IAAF 2016 World Junior in Poland. Four athletes from the Cross River State program participated at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The program won the Nigerian School Sports Festival for four consecutive years (2011–2014). It was very successful and regarded as the best youth sports development program in Nigeria. Over 35 young athletes from the program are currently enrolled in Nigerian and USA Universities. The CRS program no longer exists today. It was discontinued in October 2015 by the present administration in the state.
How can a country of over 180 million people that won no medals at the 2012 Olympic Games, one token bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in soccer, and no hope of any medals in future Olympic Games, terminate the only program producing results? To ensure long-term sustainability, regular discovery and production of great athletes, (in line with the Jamaican model) world class equipment worth over 200 million naira was purchased for distribution to six selected model secondary schools where discovered athletes would be in residence and benefiting from year round expert coaching and serious academic pursuits by the Senator Liyel Imoke administration. The equipment have been in storage since 2013 and rotting away as I write this.
According to Howard Aris, President of the Jamaican Athletics Federation (JAF) in 2009, Jamaica got to where they are today because they built on and improved upon the sports structures left behind by the British colonial government. University of Southern California and Jamaican Olympic medalist, Don Quarrie and other successful Jamaican international athletes before and after him, in the diaspora, returned home to join hands in planning and implementing long term sports development programs. They are passionate about their country and their sports. Thanks to their efforts, Jamaica is now a household name in the world of sports. The primary motive for this success is love of country and the intense desire of the athletes to be the best in the world. To achieve this, they approach sports like business from a young age. They work hard, make sacrifices when and where necessary at all levels and stay focused on their goal. Through it all, Jamaica has imbibed the unstoppable spirit in this endeavor and nothing can stand in their way any longer. Their policy is sports for all. Rather than take resources from the system that produces these athletes, everyone, including parents, give of their time and money to organize and officiate small local competitions, encourage the young athletes and support them to achieve their individual and collective goals. In Nigeria, the situation is different. We destroyed all the structures for sports development in our school system that were left behind by the British. Existing tradition and history vanished when major sports competitions like Grier Cup and Hussey Shield died.
In Nigeria, sports development is considered an opportunity for administrators to get themselves elected into world sports bodies, become powerful, entrench themselves in the system, operate the master-servant relationship with athletes and turn national sports Federations into political associations. It is very sad and I want to believe that President Muhammadu Buhari is not personally aware of the true situation and how bad things really are. Those in charge of sports cannot tell Mr. President the truth because even if they do, they have no solutions to the problem. Today, steps must be taken to quickly reverse the situation because it is getting worse and the international disgrace of returning home from major world competitions without a medal is taking its toll on our psyche. Well-tested and successfully-implemented plans exist that can turn our fortunes in sports around and set Nigeria on the path of sustainable podium performances at the World and Olympic Games in several sports, within four to six years.
The diligent implementation of these athlete-centered plans, mixed with genuine patriotic fervor, is the solution our sports have been waiting for. After all, the Jamaicans and all of the best athletes in the world who are of African descent are from the genetic stock which has its origin in our shores. This program can only succeed with partnership and close collaboration between government, private sector and wealthy Nigerian patriots. With the benevolence of one or some of Nigerian patriots, honor and glory can accrue to the nation through the participation of our restive youths in competitive sports at home and around the world.
Remember that the total population of Jamaica is about 2.9 million and they won eleven medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. In contrast, Nigeria won one bronze medal in Rio. Population figures indicate that 65.71 percent or 124.5 million Nigerians are less than 29 years old. This is the catchment age bracket for fruitfully engaging the youths in this vital national service. It is either we provide the resources to engage them constructively now so that they and the nation can reap the benefits, or we brace ourselves for the consequences of their eventual restiveness, which will make Nigeria uninhabitable for all. It took a courageous sports visionary and spiritual clone of late Dr. Samuel Ogbemeudia, in the person of former Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State to restructure sports at the state level to achieve that level of tremendous success CRS got within only six years of operating the Cross River State Comprehensive Sports Development Program.
Eugene Upah
Is a Social Commentator
