Nigerian sports going backward at 58 years, say Esu, Onigbinde

• We’ll get there, says Ogunjobi
Fifty-eight years is an age when an individual is expected to have matured and become excellent in the ways of the world. In the same vein, any country that attains that age is expected to have certain things to point at as its achievements under normal circumstances. But such is not the reality of Nigerian sports, according to stakeholders in the sector.

As Nigeria celebrated her 58 Independence anniversary yesterday, former Shooting Stars of Ibadan handler, Coach Godfery Esu says all is not well in the sports sector.“In the past, Nigeria used to dominate the field of athletics in Africa and at world level. Then, our athletes always made it to the final in the sprints and relay events. All that is now history. We were also the nation to beat in amateur boxing in Africa and among the Commonwealth nations. Where are we today?” Esu queried in a chat with

The Guardian yesterday.
Esu, who also handled Julius Berger FC of Lagos and Delta Force of Asaba, also spoke on the dwindling fortune of Nigerian football, particularly at the local league. “At 58 years, I will score our football average at national level, but we are not yet there at the local league. The officiating at our league matches are getting worse on daily basis and the NFF seems not bothered in addressing the situation. In football, once you get officiating right, every other thing will key in. Our referees seem to be carried away with their love for money, and that is responsible for the poor level of officiating in our league. Other nations are moving forward in that regard, and we are moving backward.

“Many years ago, some corporate organisations like Guinness, Lipton, Bournvita, NEPA etc used to have football clubs in Lagos and other parts of the country. They pulled out gradually due to poor officiating. At 58 years, I won’t say we are doing well in sports. Rather, I will say the sports sector is moving backward,” Esu stated.Also speaking on Nigeria’s performance in the last 58 years, former Super Eagles coach, Adegboye Onigbinde said the sector has not grown since Independence in 1960.He described the country’s achievements at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, Africa Cup of Nations and the Olympic Games as flukes, adding that the government must invest in sports development.

“The Nigerian sports sector has not grown since Independence because there has not been a conscious effort to build it.“If we failed to build from the basics, we cannot expect miracles to take us to the summit. We could stumble on success in some areas, but when it comes to the real growth, we are still very far.“If we had sustainable development, there would be continuous success instead of the win today fail tomorrow results we celebrate in this country.”

On his part, former Secretary General of the NFF and presidential aspirant at the recently concluded elections in Katsina State, Taiwo Ogunjobi said: “We are moving forward as far as the sports sector is concerned, though we have not arrived. Some of the things we have achieved today in Nigerian sports were almost impossible some 25 years ago. We will continue to push hard until we get there.”

Some sports analysts are of the opinion that the Nigerian sports sector has been ‘sluggish’ since Independence in 1960 because those charged with the responsibility of building it are not living up their responsibilities.The proprietor of Cable Soccer Academy, Edwin Onovwotafe told The Guardian that the nation’s sports is currently where it is because there had not been a conscious effort to it.

“Some people may argue that we won gold at the Olympics in 1996, won AFCON thrice in 1980, 1994 and 2013 and the U-17 World Cup five times, but we have not done well in systematic planning of the sports sector. It is now a serious business for some other countries. If our sports can be properly exploited and invested in, Nigeria has the capacity to create a lot of employment opportunities through the sector,” Onovwotafe stated.