Chris Maduewesi
Member
Different sporting federations in the country have been lamenting how they were left on their own to prepare for the Games,adding that they didn't give their athletes the kind of preparations they would have wanted to give them.
Like most things Nigerian,some federations embarked on a last-minute training tour in order to give their athletes some exposure before the games.
We all know where such shoddy preparations can only end up placing Nigeria when the Games end in eleven days time.
Just two days ago,the Nigeria Olympic Committee(NOC) equally lamented about not receiving funds from the National Sports Commission (NSC).
Other sports federation have been looking up to the sports ministry to play the role of a big brother in handing out funds to them.
There has been conflicting reports whether the athletes were well prepared for the Commonwealth Games.
While some of the federations claim that they were left on their own,the sports ministry debunked such,claiming that they have prepared the athletes and have handed them over to the NOC as is customary before any big competition.
Patrick Omorodion,media assistant to the Minister of Sports Tamuno Danagogo said : “Somebody had lied that it was the federations that were funding the camping and then turned around to apologise. There have been countless numbers of falsehoods raised over the Commonwealth Games.
“I am aware that the NOC Secretary was holding meeting and working out details with the ministry officials before I left Abuja last week. If the ministry does not want to handover the athletes what then would the NOC Secretary be doing in Abuja with the minister and officials. I am sure that by the time the event starts the best picture will be seen rather than the unguarded comments.”
President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation did not hide his frustration when he revealed that the Nigerian wrestlers going for the Commonwealth are not fully prepared.
Igali who took his wrestlers for a training tour in Romania,was however optmisitic that they will give their best in Glasgow.
“The wrestlers are in the mood to win medals for Nigeria but I cannot predict how many medals they can win,” Igali told The Punch
“We should have been in Romania for camping for about six weeks before the Games but things didn’t go the way we planned.”
“We have Romanian, Polish and Bulgarian coaches training them here (in Romania) at the camp. They have a lot of training partners and are holding their own,” he said.
“If I have my way, my athletes would be on a training tour abroad for between four to six months every year. We are leaving for Glasgow (on Monday). If not for the opening ceremonies, I would have had my team stay here (in Romania ) till the 26th. This is a good training environment.”
From the foregoing,it can be deduced that Nigerian athletes didn't get the needed training they would have wanted to before they went for the games.
Nigeria's best outing so far was in Canada 1994 where they won 37 medals: 11 gold,13 silver and 13 bronze medals,finishing on fourth overall.
At the most recent Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi,Nigeria placed ninth on the table,finishing with 33 medals.
With all these litany of complaints,it is hard seeing where Nigeria will finish on the table of 71 countries competing in Glasgow.
