The presence of Nigeria in the starting block of an athletics meet on the continent of Africa and the world, in a boxing ring, weightlifting mat, and football at some point in post-independence was really intimidating.
At 60, that presence has evaporated into thin air, no thanks to years of neglect of grassroots sports and the absence of a functional sports policy in the country.
According to some Port Harcourt sports journalists who spoke to reporters on the occasion of the 60th independence anniversary of the country, Nigeria’s pride in sports has been badly eroded.
In the eighties and early nineties, Nigeria dominated the sprints in athletics on the continent, carting away available medals in 100,200,400,4×100 and 4x400metres respectively, same was the feat of the country in some of the combat sports and age grade sporting competitions.
After 60 years of independence, analysts said that grip, the commanding presence and performance have now eluded the nation. They attributed them to over-reliance on past glory and absence of an efficient sports policy to drive the sector
Though the country has made some impact in the recent past in the combat sports by individuals who developed into champions outside the shores of Nigeria, they said with adequate planning and programming in the country, Nigeria will blossom once again.
They urged the Federal Government to create an enabling environment for private sector participation and appealed to the sector to see investment in sports as part of their cooperate social responsibility.
It is hoped that administrators will begin to see sports development as an opportunity to contribute their quota and not to milk the sector dry .
