By Uzor Odigbo
The disastrous outing of Team Nigeria is a result of combination of factors, says Olympic gold medalist, Enefiok Udo-Obong ranging from officials incompetence, ill-luck and lack of preparation.
Udo-Obong famously anchored the Nigeria 4×400 metres relay team and covered a lot of distance that initially earned Nigeria a silver medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. That was later upgraded to gold following the disqualification of the US Relay team.
He also won the bronze medal in the same event at the Athens 2004. He was at Paris 2024 as the technical director of Saudi Athletic development.
According to him, “The failure of our athletes to win medals is due to a combination of lack of preparation, bad luck and incompetence of some of the handlers.
“And enough is enough. People must be held accountable. The first thing is a sweeping change in the executives of sporting federations.
“We need new ideas and fresh actions. Good that federation elections are coming soon. A lot of board members are coming with nothing to offer..only perhaps for title in which they are ready to pay their way for.
“We also need a strategy which should be led from the Ministry and there must be a deliberate plan to arrive at fixed targets..short, medium and long he advised.
