THERE was a time Nigeria was a reference point on the African Continent and beyond in sports. The superlative performances of her athletes in major international competitions were outstanding. Nigeria competed and excelled in many sporting competitions around the world.The performances of the various sporting teams in soccer and field competitions this year, have been exceedingly dismal.The Super Eagles did not qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations. The Under-23 national soccer team, failed to win a place in the football events of the Olympic Games scheduled for London in 2012. The Falcons will also not be at London 2012. All the club sides at the sub-regional and continental competitions failed abysmally. Nigerian athletes performed poorly at the World Athletics Championship in Deagu, South Korea. Team Nigeria returned home without a single medal. The country never had it so bad!Why has Nigeria lost so much ground in the sports sector' We believe it is because she simply failed to build on past successes. She failed to design and execute intense training programmes and sports development programmes. In addition, Nigeria performs poorly, because of her over-reliance on foreign-based sportsmen and women. Home-based footballers and athletes are neglected and given scant support, if at all.Sports administrators have all but neglected grass-roots sports development programmes. Coaches, due to lack of training and exposure to new developments in their sports fields, are outdated in skills and do not have the required up-to- date skills to pass on. The country has not kept faith with training and re -training programmes for coaches and the present stock cannot compare favourably with their foreign counterparts.We believe Nigeria can return to the path of glory if she goes back to the basics. The government must return to the drawing board to re-evaluate its approach to sports development. To demonstrate readiness to take sports out of the doldrums, the country's sports administrators should tactically design and commence a robust grass roots development programme, that will lead to the constant discovery of new talents, who will form the core of the next generation of sportsmen and women. There should be a deliberate policy of revival of sporting competitions at all levels of education, while age-group competitions should be strictly monitored to prevent age cheats. Scholarship schemes must be introduced for budding and talented athletes, while training facilities must be provided and constantly upgraded.Early and sustained camping ahead of competitions should become the norm. Sports administrators can start by putting firm structures in place to camp athletes who will represent Nigeria at the 2012 Olympics. As a matter of course, our athletes should attend well-structured training tours of relevant countries and take part in local and international competitions that will stand them in good stead to perform better. Greater attention should be accorded the welfare and well-being of the athletes all-year-round, not only when their services are required.Nigeria must learn to honour her sportsmen and women. This is the way to build patriotism and zeal among the athletes. The urge to compete at the highest level and put on a brilliant performance on behalf of Nigeria, should be dutifully nurtured by sports administrators and psychologists alike. It is time to get corporate Nigeria to fully support and invest more in Nigeria's sports development. The huge sum of money spent on sponsorship of foreign leagues is not doing Nigeria's sports scene, any good. If anything, it is killing the public's interest in domestic sports competitions. These companies operate and make profit in Nigeria; their loyalty must be towards the country by promoting its interests and development.Finally, Nigeria should begin to give commensurate attention and create opportunities in all sports. Nigeria has all it takes to return to the world stage, but she must first put her house in order.
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