The Gombe Football Association’s former chairman, Shuaibu Ahmed Gara-Gombe, has issued a dire warning to John Enoh, the minister of sports development, not to meddle in the elections of the various sports federations.
The minister threatened to remove officials from the federations who are not contributing to sports development after the nation’s dismal performance at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, on Sunday. This was the backdrop against which the ferocious sports critic spoke.
Whilst frowning on the wastage of the N9 billion budget, Gara reasoned that the minister’s plan could attract the wrath of the various international bodies, which the federations are affiliated to. He warned the minister not to interfere in the electoral process but should ensure the key positions are filled by the right people.
“I support the minister’s plan to ensure the right persons occupy key positions at the various sports federations, but he should not interfere with their election so as not to earn the wrath of the international bodies they are affiliated to. He should only ensure that the right people hold key positions in the various federations,” he said on Channels Television on Tuesday.
He continued, “For instance, the National Olympic Committee receives billions of naira years as a grant from the International Olympic Committee, and no one has bothered to ask what they do with the money. Now we have just wasted N9 billion in Paris without erecting a goalpost.
Nigeria fielded 88 athletes in 12 sports in Paris and ended up without a medal, the eighth time the country would suffer the same fate in 19 appearances at the multi-sport event since making its debut at the 1952 edition in Helsinki.
The minister expressed his displeasure at the embarrassing outcome, threatening to cast sieve in the various sports federations at the forthcoming elections.
“The Olympic Games, Paris 2024, have ended, and I accept that our performance should have been a lot better. It obviously fell short of our objectives, expectations, and hopes of Nigerians. I must apologise to our compatriots and reflect on what went wrong while looking forward to the Paralympic Games.
“In all these, the President and Commander in Chief of the Federation, HE Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ensured that funds were not a limiting factor. Athletes’ competition requirements were provided, allowances were paid early, and training grants were disbursed to all athletes. I made myself readily available to deal with any issue throughout the competition. Therefore, the underwhelming performance of our team is puzzling. We owe Nigerians an explanation,” Enoh lamented in a statement on Sunday.
Enoh claimed Nigeria’s preparations for Paris were streamlined to only federations with “bright chances of qualifying for the Olympics.”
He also blamed the federations for prioritising qualification over preparations, adding that the federations “resisted and defended” their selections following complaints.
“After the African Games, subsequent meetings were limited to the Federations that had bright chances of qualifying for the Olympics,” he said.
“Medal projections were made by all the Federations, although their athletes were still trying to qualify, which lasted until about June 2024.
“The concerned Federations obviously prioritised qualification over preparations for the Games. This seems to have always been the case. This has to change.
