Former Ebonyi Commissioner for Youth Development and Sports, Charles Akpuenika , has said that Nigeria’s dismal performance at the Paris Olympics could be a tonic to revive the nation’s sports fortunes.
Team Nigeria failed to win any medal at the just-concluded 2024 Olympics in Paris.
But in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakaliki, Akpuenika said there were positives to take away from the event.
“I support those calling for a state of emergency on Nigeria’s sports but we should stop the blame game but look for solutions to return the country to its glorious sporting era.
“The Olympics should not be the only area of focus but sports in general, especially in football and other sports.
“The sporting authorities should be sincere in implementing policies and programmes that would address factors which prevented us from winning medals at the games.
“Luckily, these authorities were in Paris, they saw other countries compete, observed the technical and organisational attributes which brought success to other countries,” he said.
He said the strides made by the D’Tigress could serve as a launching pad for the revival as the team surpassed expectations in spite of exiting at the quarter final of female basketball event.
“The women’s basketball team could have won a medal if it did not meet the American ladies at that stage. It still won the heart of the world with the way it battled its more fancied foes.
“The nomination of its coach, Rena Wakama, as the best coach of the event is a pointer that the Nigerian Basketball Federation is doing something which other sporting federations are not doing,” he said.
Akpuenika called for support for the sporting authorities to enable leverage the lessons learnt from the games to make amends in the management of the sports.
“The minister for instance is only one year in office and must have surely learnt valuable lessons from the games,” he stated. “Countries such as Kenya, Botswana, South Africa among others won medals, even gold, at the Olympics and Nigeria is rated higher than these countries in many sports.”