There is no denying that fact that Nigeria has become a force to reckon with in sports in the past five and a half decades, given its horde of achievements especially on the continent.
The presence of Nigeria is also felt at the global level, thanks to the sheer brilliance of its athletes amid the environment in which they operate.
Unarguably, Nigeria first made it to the world map in sports through boxing following the victory of Hogan 'Kid' Bassey who won the world featherweight title in 1957 after his victory over French-Algerian Cherif Hamia in Paris, France.
Richard Ihetu a.k.a. Dick Tiger on October 23, 1962 became the second Nigerian to rule the world as he won the world middleweight title at the expense of American Gene Fullmer. Regarded as one of the best boxers from Africa, Tiger became an undisputed light heavyweight world champion in 1966 with his victory over Puerto Rican José Torres.
Perhaps, what remains the biggest achievement recorded by a Nigerian in modern boxing was the emergence of Akwa Ibom State-born Samuel Peter in 2008 as the first African to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title.
Peter's victory game boxing a lift in Nigeria nay Africa as it marked the beginning of a new era in sports.
In football, Nigeria at the cadet level remains the world's best at the expense of Brazil, following Nigeria's triumphs in the FIFA U-17 World Cup on four occasions, 1985, 1993, 2007 and 2013, but Nigeria had on two occasions in the FIFA U-20 World Cup finals in 1989 and 2005.
Nigeria in 1996 became the first African country to win the Olympic soccer gold with a 3-2 victory over Argentina at Atlanta '96 Olympics.
The supremacy of Nigeria in women football on the continent though is being checked, but still unequalled with the Super Falcons' victories in the African Women Championship (AWC) on five occasions, while Nigeria also became the first African country to play in the quarter-final at the global stage in 1999.
In athletics, Blessing Okagbare has raised the profile of Nigeria through her exploits in the track and field events. After winning the bronze in long jump at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, Okagbare clinched both the 100m and 200m gold at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games to become the fourth woman to achieve such feat. At Glasgow 2014, she also sets the Games record with a time of 10.85 seconds.
The Delta State-born athlete sets a new African record in 100m with a time of 10.79 seconds on July 27, 2013 at the London Anniversary Games.
She also won the silver and bronze medal for Nigeria that year at the senior IAAF World Athletics Championship in Moscow, the first time after Nigeria's failure to appear on the podium for 16 years.
Nigeria has also produced a number of world-class athletes like Chioma Ajunwa, the first and only Nigerian to win the Olympic gold in individual event (long jump) at Atlanta '96, Mary Onyali, Falilat Ogunkoya, Olusoji Fasuba, Chidi Imoh and Innocent Egbunike, among others.
For the first time, Nigeria also ruled the continent in men's basketball with the victory of D'Tigers at the just-concluded 28th AfroBasket Championship in Tunisia, while D'Tigress won the women's title on two occasions in 2003 and 2005.
The team handled by Scott Nnaji at the just-ended 2015 AfroBasket Women's championship in Cameroon sensationally won the bronze with a surprise victory over Angola . The D'Tigress had lost by a-one point margin to the hosts, Cameroon in the semi-final.
The introduction of special sports is a blessing to Nigeria as it has increased the country's fame through the heroics of their athletes.
Team Nigeria emerged the world best in para-powerlifting at the London 2012 Paralympics and today, a number of world record holders have come out of Nigeria in para-powerlifting. The list include Yakubu Adesokan (48kg), Esther Oyema (55kg), Folashade Oluwafunmiayo, the late Joy Onaolapo, Graze Anozie and Ben Nsini (44kg).
However, Nigeria has not been able to transform its dominance in the U-17 World Cup to
the senior level as it is yet to meet the quarter-final record of Cameroon and Senegal at the World Cup.
Also, Nigeria has been playing second fiddle in Africa as it had only won the All Africa Games once in 2003 as hosts, after its failure to win also as hosts in 1973. At the just-ended 11th All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville, Nigeria finished second behind Egypt, a feat not acceptable to some Nigerian stakeholders given the myriad of talents that the country is blessed with.
Dr Amos Adamu, a former Director-General, National Sports Commission (NSC), who was in
charge when Nigeria hosted and won the 2003 All Africa Games, while speaking on the state of sports in Nigeria disagrees that the country is not moving forward in the sector.
"Nigeria is doing well as far as I'm concerned. Look at the number of gold medals Nigeria won in different events, you will realise that we are number one in Africa in those sports, and placing second overall is something commendable.
"Certainly, Nigeria could do better in sports. When you look at the environment under which our athletes train, where people who don't invest in sports want results, Nigeria is doing very well and you will give kudos to Nigerian sports. I'm very proud of our sportsmen and women," said the former FIFA executive.
Also, the dominance of the Super Falcons on the continent is becoming a thing of the past as countries like Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, Equatorial Guinea and the Ivory Coast are growing in the sport by the day.
Nigeria was denied of the 2012 Olympic ticket by the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon
as well as the 2016 Olympic ticket by Equatorial Guinea.
Also, at the just-ended All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville, the Falcons first lost
1-2 to the Ivory Coast in their last group match and also 1-2 to Cameroon in the semi-
final. The Nigerian team lost again, 1-2 to the Ivory Coast to miss the bronze, a string
of result that had never been recorded by the Falcons since 1991.
"We have the manpower to dominate sports in Africa but Nigeria needs to improve in
sports like swimming which is a multi-medal event to be able to live up to its acclaimed status of giant of Africa," noted a sports analyst.
........
Captions:
Photo 1: Nigeria's D'Tigers after their victory at AfroBasket Men's championship in Tunisia.
Photo 2: Esther Oyema, world's record holder in women's 55kg powerlifting.
No comments:
Post a Comment