Ebewele, Gara Gombe, others pessimistic over Team Nigeria’s chances at Olympics

A former official of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Brown Ebewele, has said that it would have been better if Nigeria does not go to Rio Olympic Games.
He told The Point in Lagos that this was because Team Nigeria would not win a medal at the fiesta billed to commence next month.
The former athlete, popularly called ‘Jujuman’ said there was no sign that Nigerian sports men and women were actually preparing for a remarkable outing in Brazil.
Ebewele insisted that Nigeria would only make a mockery of herself in front of the whole world by going to the Olympics without any hope of winning a medal.
“Nigerians are dreamers. This is a country of magicians. I don’t even know if the Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, knows the date of the Olympics. The man does not know anything about the Games and I am surprised that he is the sports minister of this country.
“There are no preparations, no training tours, no funds, no blueprint for a successful outing; so tell me how Nigeria would excel in Rio. I think it is a mission impossible for Team Nigeria,” Ebewele said.
It is generally believed that Nigeria’s present economic situation is also part of the clog in the wheels of the nation’s sport progress.
Ebewele said it was unfortunate that Nigerian athletes were preparing for the Games under poor conditions, while other competitors were enjoying the best welfare package and access to sophisticated facilities to motivate their athletes for excellent performance.
He stressed the need for a change of orientation to get things right in Nigerian sports.
AFN’s technical committee boss, Omatseye Nesiema, also said that Nigeria’s chances of winning a gold medal looked slim.
He however refused to comment on the team’s shoddy preparation to save his face as one of the country’s top officials to the games.
“Preparation plans are adequate, but execution is faulty, owing to obvious paucity of funds” he told The Point.
On his part, Gombe State’s former sports official, Ahmed Shuaib Gara Gombe, lambasted the sports ministry over its lukewarm attitude to Nigeria’s outing at the Olympics. He categorically said he was not expecting anything from Team Nigeria as members have not shown any trace of determination to succeed in any of the major sporting event that the country is billed to feature in at the Olympics.