Africa’s largest youth population went home ‘medal-less’ at the recent Olympic Games, a situation that hindered the country from tapping into opportunities for the growth and development of the sports industry both in the local and international scenes.
Some of the opportunities are global visibility, sponsorship, endorsement deals for the athletes, social and financial benefits that can improve sports facilities, foreign direct investments, and foreign partnerships.
“Athletes want to compete but the country is not matching it with investments. We are not giving them the support that they need. Winning medals will create excitement and companies will be happy to do things for the athletes like sponsorship and endorsement deals,” Felix Awogu, general manager at SuperSport West Africa, said.
He said in the past, there were sports competitions in Nigeria to select the best talents, but now talent acquisition has stopped due to manipulation.
“To address the talent gap, the government should focus more on training and development of these athletes to develop their skills. It is not by giving bulk money for participation but by preparing early. There must be a deliberate plan if you want to win medals.”
The Olympics, a quadrennial athletic festival, is often regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition. Despite the federal government sending 88 athletes across 12 sports, the highest on record, it recorded its worst performance since the 2012 London Games.
Experts say this buttresses the urgent need to reevaluate the country’s approach to sports development and investment.
Adeola Adenikinju, president of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES), said a country winning an Olympic medal gives its economy global visibility, goodwill, and social benefit, among others.
He said that Nigeria is not retaining talent because it cannot invest in talent and that a lot of investment is involved in training people which Nigeria doesn’t offer.
“We need to create the right organisation that can train these talents, prompting them to leave. Lack of finance, and infrastructure makes these talents move to where they can grow and be nurtured,” Adenikinju added.
A recent report by SBM Intelligence showed that in 2020, Africa’s fourth largest economy won two medals (a silver and a bronze) at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games, which heightened expectations for a stronger performance this year.
“Nigeria’s performance starkly contrasts the achievements of other African contingents. Kenya won four gold medals, with 11 medals in total. Algeria won two gold medals, with three medals in total. South Africa won one gold medal, making it six medals in total,” the report said.
It noted that Ethiopia won one gold medal, four medals in total. Egypt won a gold medal, with three medals in total. “Tunisia won a gold medal, with three medals in total.”
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA) reports that as of 2021, the impact of sports in Nigeria on the economy is vast. Apart from the contribution of sports to the human body, it also plays an important role in employment generation.
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For instance, sports have contributed 0.19 percent, 0.31 percent, and 0.33 percent to the Nigerian GDP in 2019, 2020, and 2021 respectively and this trend shows no signs of slowing down as the sports market in Nigeria is increasing.
“Nigeria needs to do to become a socio-economically developed country. Sports are a valid pathway for young men and women in any reasonably developed country as it can harness their physical attributes in a way that rewards them mentally and of course, financially,” Feyi Fawehinmi, an author and finance expert said in a recent article.
He noted that in a country like Nigeria teeming with millions of young men and women struggling to find gainful employment, sport is a no-brainer.
Some Nigerian-born athletes who represented other nations achieved podium finishes at the 2024 Olympics include Salwa Eid Naser, born Ebelechukwu Agbapuonwu, who made history by securing a silver medal in the women’s 400m event, representing Bahrain.
Annette Echikunwoke won a silver medal in the women’s hammer throw for the United States. Yemisi Ogunleye, a German shot putter with Nigerian roots, etched her name in Olympic history by winning gold in the women’s shot put, and Samu Omorodion, born in Melilla, a Spanish enclave to Nigerian parents, played a pivotal role in Spain’s victory in the men’s football competition
“People go abroad to develop their skill set because it is widely accepted there. A lot of these Nigerians who play for foreign countries are not just making their money from football or other sports, they make it through sponsorships,” Jennifer Oyelade, director of Transquisite Consulting, an international human resource consultancy, said.
Until Nigeria starts operating on a global platform showcasing their players for bilateral partnerships and relationships, that is when Nigerian players will stay in Nigeria and look at the possibilities, they can get through partnerships rather than leaving the country, Oyelade stated.
“While I am aware some schools have sport as a course of study, the curriculum should be revised to capture the investment and economic dimension of sports. This would encourage youth to study sports and settle for sport as a profession.”
The various challenges in the country’s sports industry such as poor management, lack of accountability, bad reward system, and lack of adequate facilities in primary and secondary schools to train and build young talents are making athletes change their national allegiances to other countries as a way to keep their sports dreams alive.
Ayotunde Abiodun, an analyst at SBM said Nigeria’s performance in sports is a reflection of the structural challenges the country is facing.
He said it shows how inefficiencies in governance have spread in all the institutional frameworks especially in sports as such we are lacking state capacity and do not have soft power which is important in geopolitics.
“Some international media spotlight narratives on how Nigeria lost a lot of talents because we had about eight Nigerian descent that won medals for other countries and this does a lot of damage in the long run to our reputation in the international scene.”
Lessons for Nigeria in retaining athletes
The 2024 Games presents an opportunity for Nigeria to learn from other countries that are deliberate in acquiring and retaining their talents
US
For US, the American college sports system, which every year sustains and trains thousands of students in Olympic sports — both Americans and international students — is their golden goose.
Beyond the direct financial support, coaching, and training that college delivers, there is the hard-to-replicate competitive experience.
Athletes from the country took home 126 total medals in this year’s Olympics (40 golds, 44 silvers and 42 bronzes).
China
This second most populated country in the world has invested heavily in sports infrastructure, athlete development programs, and training facilities led to China’s emergence as a sports powerhouse in the 80s and ’90s.
It finished the 2024 Games with 91 medals, including 40 gold medals, 27 silver medals, and 24 bronze medals. The country’s progress in competitive sports is largely down to its emphasis on integrating sports with education and talent cultivation.
In Nanjing, the capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province, teenagers enjoy dance-like workouts in a middle school playground. Less than 300 km away, in the city of Nantong, hundreds of students run in spectacular changing formations that resemble the classic mobile game Snake.
Schools across China have been encouraged to design creative Physical Education classes and activities catering to the student’s interests, enabling them to harness their sports skills and enjoy physical and mental well-being.
Meanwhile, China has greatly intensified its sporting input on youth development, especially after the international performances of the country’s big-ball team sports declined in recent years. For example, the Chinese Football Association has consolidated a comprehensive youth league competition system to identify and nurture amateur talents.
Jamaica
Jamaica is known as the home to the world’s top athletes, in catching, developing, and retaining its young sports talents. The Jamaican government spots new talents through its annual school athletics competition known as Inter-Secondary Schools Boys and Girls Championships, popularly called “Champs.”
The championship helps to develop and retain them or prevent them from being scouted by other countries through private sector sponsorships and financial benefits from international sports bodies.
Apart from sponsorships, Jamaica has an athlete’s insurance plan, which provides coverage for junior athletes that represent the country, and an annual $130 million scholarship provided by the local universities, which have enabled athletes to pursue tertiary studies.
