Friday, March 29, 2024

Lessons from Anthony Joshua

The recent victory of Nigerian-born Briton, Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, over the Ukrainian boxing legend, Vladimir Klitschko, has, predictably, caused wild excitement in the homeland.

Joshua, 27, stunned the whole world after rising smartly from a sixth-round knockdown to ultimately defeat 41-year-old Klitschko in the tension-soaked bout, watched by 90,000 spectators at the Wembly Stadium, London.

Joshua, weighing 113kg, pummeled a tottering Klitschko in the 11th round and sent the power hulk down to the canvass to claim the coveted world championship belt.

Following the gargantuan feat, Joshua is now the world unified heavyweight boxing champion.

However, as the Nigerian public and government roll out the drums in celebration, they should also pause for a while in sober reflection to the prosaic saying that ‘a prophet has no honour in his own country.’

The Joshua phenomenon has thus exposed the truth that Nigeria cannot manage a great potential to stardom, having lost many great athletes to foreign countries

This is justifiable for the simple reason that if the Sagamu, Ogun State-born Joshua had cut his professional teeth in Nigeria, he would not have risen to the peak of his career. The bravura efforts of Joshua in the boxing career can hardly be traced to his home country, but to Britain, which from his childhood, helped to develop his talent.

For long, critics have taken the Nigerian government to task over its apparent neglect of the sport sector of the economy, an ailment that cuts across the other crucial areas in the national life.

Like other things Nigerian, sport facilities have largely remained in a state of decay with virtually no discernible effort of government to improve on the profile of listed games.

Existing Nigerian sport men and women in the Diaspora may no longer wish to come home and represent their country, as they are enjoying better facilities and encouragement, to make them win laurels and turn stars, abroad.

Lack of funds to run sporting activities, lack of sport management skills, lack of policies in place to encourage athletes, and an unfriendly atmosphere to build athletes’ career are some of the major flaws Nigeria has been battling with for ages.

The Joshua phenomenon has thus exposed the truth that Nigeria cannot manage a great potential to stardom, having lost many great athletes to foreign countries before now, owing to factors herein highlighted.

Already, the summer Olympics Games is due to hold in Tokyo, Japan, come 2020, but hardly have serious preparations been noticed from the side of the authorities; except of course, for the country’s fire-brigade style of mobilising athletes, only a few weeks to take-off.

The countries that are making it big in sport spend so much on their athletes to achieve the impossible.

For instance, lack of programmes and result oriented events led many athletes out of Nigeria to compete in the national colours of other countries.

Francis Obikwelu, formerly of Nigeria, now competes as a Portuguese national and he won a silver medal for the country at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Gloria Alozie also dumped Nigeria for Spain in athletics.

Yet, there is Femi Seun Ogunode from Ondo State, who has accepted an offer to compete internationally for Qatar.

Another star, Oluwakemi Adekoya, originally ran for Nigeria since 2011, but owing to her dissatisfaction with how the country treated athletes, Kemi defected to Bahrain. Daniel Igali is another good example.

He was captain of the Nigeria wrestling team to the 1994 Commonweath Games in Canada but he stayed behind in that country and later represented it at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, where he won a gold medal. He has since returned home to help his fatherland administratively.

Now, if Joshua had not made up his mind to stay in Britain, he would not have got the kind of support that helped him garner three world boxing heavyweight belts, as no promoter, who is truly a businessman, would stage a fight in Nigeria.

The system and the people will make things difficult for him and that was why a former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion, Samuel Peter, could not defend his title in his country when he won it in 2008, before losing it in October, that year, to Klitschko.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian government does not see sport as real business. The government gives little and expects big glories, which is why our athletes are not encouraged.

They are left with their dreams and aspirations either dashed or left in the doldrums. Those who manage to stay with Nigeria, most times, suffer the consequences.

Former Nigerian boxing coaches, Obisia Nwankpa and Jerry Okorodudu, testified to the poor treatment they were accorded in the course of raising Olympic champions for the country.

According to them, they trained boxers on empty stomach, as they often used their resources to cater for the boxers to concentrate in camp.

The Nigerian government, it would seem, knows how to celebrate success but can hardly invest in it.

Reports have it that the Federal Government is planning to honour Joshua. Same way, his community in Sagamu has proposed to name a street after him. But beyond the revelry, it is important to tap from the lessons of the Joshua victory; a victory that has bolstered national pride.

That lesson is that, those in authorities should cultivate the culture of ensuring good governance, not only in sport, but also in the entire national life. This is the best way to guide against unpleasant consequences.

To Joshua, the world heavyweight boxing champion, congratulations!

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