AFTERMATH: OLYMPICS

The summer Olympics have come and gone but the memories will linger for a long time. Usain Bolt hammered Johan Blake both in the 100m and 200m sprints. Michael Phelps became the greatest Olympian of all time. The USA climbed back to the top spot in world sports after deceiving themselves they did in Beijing they had won more medals, not more gold. Andy Murray thumped the greatest lawn tennis player of all time, Roger Federer. Brazil swallowed her pride when humility came knocking at the hands of Mexico. The host nation’s domination of rowing. Oscar Pistorius becoming the first amateur runner in the history of the Olympics. And many more.

But what many Nigerians have chosen to remember about the Olympics is the failure to secure a single medal. The blame game started in earnest with the officials there was intense preparation (three months, seriously?) before the games while the sportsmen and sportswomen claimed the preparation was inadequate (they should have negotiated for a longer preparatory time, or better still, participate for another country. Unpatriotic, but better than messing up and blaming the government you know is never ‘ready’). Then, the news filtered through that the athletes sneaked into the country.

That last line is as stupendous as any statement could be since most of the Nigerian delegates don’t even live in the country. It’s amazing how imaginative people would be to be funny. But it also pointed to a plain truth – Nigerians were not ready to accept failures, in sports at least. But as usual, Nigerians are looking at the tomato sauce bottle from the wrong side.

In Nigeria, we are too optimistic about sports. Really, what gave us the audacity to think that we could win any medal in the summer Olympics? A little pessimism could have improved our chances.

There is a solution to every problem. Or at least, there should be. There is no self-help book that can help us because the answer is not within us. In fact, it never was. The solutions are glaring for the whole world to see. The first is in South East Asia and the second, the extreme west. China and the USA provide the templates for success.

The Chinese template is pushed by the almost psychopathic ambition to rule the world of sports. It has also been made possible by the shrewd thinking of the government. They discovered that the rich kids could not be forced into sports so they descended on the poor ones. And what dividends that action has paid. The Olympics in Beijing and London showed a country’s willingness to dominate sports and the whole world applauded. China, on the other hand, would have been surprised if they were not highly praised. The Chinese government discovered that the height of sport brilliance in the late teens and early twenties. Any age beyond that and it is up to the athlete to keep his fitness and motivation. The Chinese template involves taking kids as young as six (sometimes younger) from their poor folks to have their bones and muscles tested. The tests determine what sport the kid can participate in and he or she would be transported to one of three thousand schools built by the government around the country where they would be optimally trained in their specific sports while receiving education in a religious setting.

The American template is so much easier to comprehend. Most of the advancement in sports is brought about by the private sector. Sponsorship is the order of the day from the youth ranks to the senior level. Most American schools are seriously involved in sports and the arts. Any talent discovered is nurtured and sponsored to the highest level.

The American template might be difficult for American to shadow. For one, we are not capitalists (USA itself doesn’t practice pure capitalism as we are made to believe. They are social capitalists). We just don’t have enough wealthy individuals or firms to sponsor everything no matter how generous we intend to be. But we can pick a few things from this template. Our various schools, especially the privately-owned ones can always do a little better than what they are during now in terms of sports and the arts. To have only one school capable of producing world class sports personalities and artists in the country is better than having “feyingbole” schools every corner you turn into.

Of course, the Chinese template is ready made for us. We only need the corporation of the government (prayers and fasting required!). Some naysayers would scream their lungs out and claim that child abuse is in order. This template forces children to be sportsmen and women and they have no freedom to choose their destiny. They are been given talents under duress, the ever-quick-to-oppose-anything-good people would declare. But who cares? We are talking about children, whose families’ lives under a dollar a day, not knowing where food would come from the next day and there is talk of them choosing their destiny?  What future are they choosing if they die out of hunger before they reach there? The pessimists themselves are well fed, well clothed, well sheltered, and just between their homes and their places of work, they see dozens of beggars. Why don’t we ask the poor folks themselves if taking care of eleven or even two kids in poverty is better than giving their offspring to the government where they would be fed, clothed, and sheltered and can yet become stars of the future?

The Brazilian Olympic committee, after the summer Olympics, came out and declared their budget for Rio 2016, which athletes were going from the London’s bunch (bearing all circumstances), and sending an investigative panel to look into the rise of Jamaican sprinters. Of course, they are being idealistic but they are preparing. What has our country done besides blame? It is still a wonder that Nigeria got her independence that early (not that it has benefited us in any way). If nothing is done, we can be sure of obscurity when it comes to sports.

Even if one or both of the templates are used, one thing is certain – we are not winning any medal in the next Olympics, because - implementation takes time. But we can build from there.