Judokas have expressed their displeasure over the lull in Nigerian judo environment with little or nothing being done by the current board of Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF).
The athletes noted that the president of NJF, Timothy Nsirim, has not done enough to bring life into their game, especially when no competition is being organised locally for most of the athletes who have been training on daily basis to keep fit.
Some of them, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed concern with the way the sport is being run in the country, calling on the National Sports Commission (NSC), public-spirited Nigerians and stakeholders to rescue the game from going down.
“I would blame the sports commission for allowing people who have nothing to offer to govern our sport. I don’t see the reason some members of this judo board will be there with nothing to show for their existence and still be allowed to continue in office.
“This is so bad for us and we want something fast to be done to save our sport,” said a male judoka at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
A female judoka, who also spoke to TheNiche on condition of anonymity, urged the authorities to act very fast and help to reposition the game in the country.
She said: “Many of the board members are not qualified to be on the board of the judo federation. The president of the federation has failed us, as there has not been any activity in the past eight months.
“I think very soon, if nothing changes, we will organise ourselves to voice out our grievances to the Nigerian public.
“The All Africa Games is coming up this year and the Olympic Games in Brazil next year, and there is nothing on the ground to show our readiness to go for the qualifiers of these tournaments, and no local competition to keep the judokas fit. This is bad.
“This is why the authority saddled with the responsibility of running of our sports should act fast to save us from disgrace.”