Team Nigeria in Paris: Furore over ‘neglect’ of indigenous coaches for foreigners

As the uproar generated by the inclusion of several American coaches in Team Nigeria to the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games still swirls, GOWON AKPODONOR writes that indigenous coaches are feeling neglected, even as they claim to be better equipped to get their wards to deliver optimum performances, as well as articulate the country’s interest than the foreigners.

What should be the criteria for selecting athletes to represent the country at major international competitions like the Olympic Games, and the World Championships? This question has been making the rounds since the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) made public, the list of coaches that would articulate the country’s interest at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Feeling hard done by such a decision by the AFN, indigenous coaches, pronto vented their spleen for being neglected in preference for foreign coaches on the eve of the Games.
 
They argue that having unearthed, trained, and nurtured most of the athletes to prominence, the AFN decision to “discard them” and pitch tent with foreign coaches, who have no input in the stars’ development was at best, appalling.

The coaches further argued that since they knew the athletes inside out, they were in a better position to bring out the best in them at major competitions.
To buttress their argument, they point to Falilat Ogunkoya, who was discovered and nurtured by an indigenous coach to Olympic glory in 1992 and 1996.

Twenty-eight years ago, Ogunkoya made history as the first and so far only Nigerian athlete to win two medals at the same Olympic Games. Apart from winning Nigeria’s first individual medal in track and field, at the Atlanta ’96 Olympics, courtesy of her African record of 49.10secs, which fetched the nation a bronze medal in the 400m, she went on to anchor Nigeria’s 4x400m relay team to another medal, silver, with an incredible 3:21.04secs African record-setting feat.
 
Ogunkoya’s historic feat at the Atlanta ‘96 Olympics was overseen by an indigenous coach, Tony Osheku, who understood the chemistry of the Nigerian athlete, and how to prepare her for the big occasion.

The coaches lament that things have changed to the extent that most Nigerian athletes, particularly track and field stars, are now being trained by American coaches at major championships, with the coaches that discovered them being made to play the role of spectators.

At the 2012 Delta Sports Summit, which featured many experts from across the world, legendary Jamaican track and field coach, Bertland Cameron, among others, dismissed the long-held notion that only American coaches are capable of returning Nigerian athletics to the glory days.

He insisted that living and schooling in America as a means of realising the Olympic dream was a mirage, stressing that no American coach can make that happen for Nigerians.

He said: “Jamaica realised that long ago, hence, we decided to train our coaches, build the facilities in Jamaica, and provide the environment to nurture our athletes at home.

“Usain Bolt and all great Jamaican athletes were discovered and nurtured in Jamaica by Jamaican coaches. But to achieve this level of greatness, Nigeria must provide the facilities, train the coaches adequately, and make conditions good for both the coaches and athletes to thrive,” he said.

In their protest over their alleged neglect by the AFN, the Athletics Coaches Association of Nigeria (ACAN) noted that Nigerian coaches, who have worked so hard to produce athletes are being overlooked for U.S. collegiate coaches, who they claim, contribute little or nothing to the development of these athletes.
  
Using a high jumper, Temitope Adeshina, to buttress their argument, ACAN noted that her collegiate coach in the U.S. is attached to her because of the Olympic Games, while the Nigerian coach, Kola Adebayo, who brought her to the limelight is stuck in Lagos.
 
“There are other athletes like Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma, Chinacherem Nnamdi, Nathaniel Ezekiel, and of course, Tobi Amusan, who have their coaches going along with the team to the Olympics,” ACAN President, Solomon Aliu, said in a statement.
  
Though some Nigerian coaches are in the delegation to the Paris 2024 Olympics, including Gabriel Okon, Endurance Ojokolo, Gabriel Opuana, Kayode Yaya, and Saheed Akinpelu (Alfa), ACAN said that there was no need to include foreign coaches in the team ab initio, while leaving home-grown coaches behind.
 
“How many American coaches are in the delegation of other top African athletics nations like South Africa, Botswana, and Ethiopia to the Paris 2024 Olympics?” the ACAN boss queried.

“There is none. Nigeria is one of the only countries with foreign coaches at the expense of Nigerian trainers.”  Aliu asked: “All the successes that Nigeria has recorded in the history of the Olympic Games, from Barcelona ’92, Atlanta ’96 to Sydney 2000, were there any American coaches involved? Did other Nigerian great athletes, who were also in the NCAA, like Mary Onyali, Innocent Egbunike, Falilat Ogunkoya, and others bring their coaches to the Olympics?
  
“This romance with foreign coaches was initiated during the tenure of Solomon Ogba as AFN president. But how has that helped us? At the last African Games in Ghana, over 80 per cent of athletes were home-based. Was it not Nigerian coaches who produced them?”

 Sule, who agreed that the American coaches have better facilities at their disposal, added: “If we have the basic equipment available for training of our athletes in Nigeria, we should be doing better than the Americans without our athletes going over there.
 
“Look at sprinter Kayinsola Ajayi, for example, he trained here with crude gym equipment and was doing 10.01sec before he left for the U.S. With the little that we have, Nigerian coaches are working so hard to produce results,” an angry Sule stated.
 
On his part, a former African long jump champion and national record holder, Yusuf Alli, urged the AFN to always consider Nigerian coaches first in deciding trainers for Team Nigeria.
  
Alli, who is the chairman of the Edo Sports Commission said: “Our coaches are losing a lot by not going to the Olympics. They should be there to learn from what others are doing. They should be part of the team and this does not stop any athlete, who so desires to get their collegiate coaches, to join them.
  
“One important thing that Nigeria must consider is that U.S. coaches would not do for us what our coaches can do. This idea of having personal coaches is not helpful in the long run, most especially in the relays, where you need the team to practice as one unit. But you now have the athletes preferring to take advice from their American coaches. This brings conflict of ideas, and it often leads to a breakdown in communication during the exchange and it has cost us a lot at major championships,” Alli said.
 
The President of the Nigeria Coaches Association, Gabriel Opuana, blames the sports ministry for the ‘misnomer,’ saying that the ministry prefers to bring foreign coaches “to do what we can do perfectly.”

He said: “If the American coaches are so good, why are they not in the American team? In the past, the same sports ministry used to sponsor Nigerian coaches to Europe and elsewhere for training, but that is not the case presently.
 
“This is why the NCA is pushing for our coaches to be exposed to modern trends and we are working to get corporate and private sponsorships,” Opuana, who is coach of shot putter, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, added.

Delving into the argument, a former junior athlete, Iruma Ogbonna, said that nobody would have gone for a foreign coach if the indigenous trainers had been taking time out to update their knowledge of their sporting disciplines.

“Most of our coaches have not had any training for the past 10 years. There are innovations in coaching, which if you are not abreast of, you will be left behind.

“In the past, we had coaches who went to Australia and Germany, as well as the East European countries for training. However, most of our coaches are satisfied with the education they got at the NIS.

“Such coaches cannot compete with those abreast with modern trends and the science of the sport. Nigeria’s brightest coaches, who took out time to educate themselves on modern trends in athletics are being poached by foreign countries.

“Enefiok Udo-Obong just got a job as head of Saudi Arabia’s development programme. He did not sit back to wait for the national team job. Innocent Egbunike is sought after by foreign countries because he has acquired the knowledge and can compete with any of the best coaches available anywhere in any country.

“So, instead of crying over foreign coaches, Nigerian coaches should get the education that will make them indispensable in their jobs. That is the only way they can be chosen when the best are called,” he said.

Explaining the choice of foreign coaches for the Games, the AFN told The Guardian that the collegiate coaches involved in Team Nigeria at the Paris Olympics are on a “rescue mission.”
  
The AFN President, Tonobok Okowa, said that it is wrong to accuse collegiate coaches of taking over the jobs of Nigerian coaches at the Olympics.
 “It is good we clear this issue because some people are accusing these collegiate coaches from the U.S. wrongly,” Okowa said. “Their involvement in the Olympics is actually to help our athletes attain their best in Paris.

“For instance, athletes like Keyinshola Ajayi, Favour Ashe, Temitope Adeshina, and Tobi Amusan, have been working with their American coaches, who played major roles in their qualification for the Olympics. It would be out of place to refuse the assistance they are rendering for them in Paris. Or are those complaining expecting these athletes to change their coaches overnight?

“The Sports Ministry and the AFN are not spending anything on them. The schools in the U.S. want the best for our athletes. Let us call a spade a spade. I am sure if not for the impact of these collegiate coaches, the majority of our athletes wouldn’t have qualified for the Paris Olympics.

“I am not trying to play down the contributions of Nigeria coaches in discovering and guiding some of our athletes from the beginning, but people should stop pointing accusing fingers at the collegiate coaches.”
 
Okowa advised the indigenous coaches to look for ways to improve in their capacity as trainers. “Our coaches should look beyond their present capacity and think ahead instead of looking for who to blame. They should go and improve on their standard. After four or five years, it is expected that our coaches go for more training to be at par with their counterparts in foreign lands. The AFN will always assist those who want to help themselves. I want to say that all the coaches in the nation’s contingent at the 2024 Olympic Games have different roles to play.
 
“Earlier this year, some of these collegiate coaches from the U.S. were with our athletes at the World Relays in the Bahamas, and they contributed to our success. At the Paris Olympics, they are expected to put heads together with our coaches to build a formidable team, including the relays. That does not mean they are taking over the roles Nigerian coaches should have in our team,” Okowa stated.