The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh described Team Nigeria’s performance in the ongoing 2024 Olympics in Paris as “disappointing.”
While he met with gentlemen of the press at the Nigerian Embassy in Paris for a press briefing following the country’s participation in the 2024 Olympics, he said we must do everything to prevent future occurrences of the Paris disaster and if this will entail the review of how people are elected to lead our sporting federations, it will be done.
“The elections for the federations are around the corner, and it will be the perfect platform to get only those who are most eligible to lead the various sports federations.
He further stated that contrary to speculations, the ministry made adequate provisions, financially and otherwise, to prepare the athletes for the Olympics.
“We did everything as a ministry to prepare the athletes adequately and provide them with every financial support, but unfortunately, the performance did not produce any podium finish,” he said.
He vowed to ensure that aspirants for the forthcoming sports federation elections are thoroughly scrutinised.
“I am aware that the sports federations elections in Nigeria are even tougher than our national elections. We must set our standards to scrutinise what motivates those vying to run the federations and get only the best hands.
“This call for reform aims to enhance the leadership and effectiveness of Nigeria’s sports federations, paving the way for improved performance on the global stage,” he said.
The minister also revealed on his handle on X that there were no preparations in place for the Olympics upon assumption of office a year ago.
“When I assumed office as the Minister of Sports Development in August 2023, I was confronted with the task of executing four international competitions namely the AFCON, the African Games, the Olympic and Paralympic Games in a matter of a few months,” the statement reads.
In that statement , Enoh said the sports ministry would reflect on what went wrong towards better performance at the upcoming Paralympics.
