Yomi Omogbeja (12/07/2004)

The Nigerian Mobil/NNPC track and field championships is not what it used to be.

The 2004 Nigerian Mobil/NNPC track and field championships was characterised by shoddy preparations and chaotic organisation.

The absence of top sprinters such as Uchenna Emedolu and Mary Onyali-Omagbemi due to injuries also rubbed the shine off the competition with spectators shunning the event.

The event was marred by accusations of drugs cheats, favouritism and negligence of the technical officials.

“This Mobil track and field trial is nothing short of a secondary school inter-house sport competition,” says Nuru Ibrahim, a worker at the Abuja national stadium.

Nuru and his colleagues were joined by a handful of journalists and athletes on Saturday at the Mobil/NNPC track and field championships that serve as the trials for selecting Nigerian athletes for the Olympics.

Such was the mediocrity of the organisation and the performance at the trials that a passive observer like Nuru can make such a review.

Even the government seem unsure of how to salvage the sport with the Sports Minister, Colonel Musa Mohammed calling on corporate sponsors and appealing to the management of ExxonMobil not to withdraw from its sponsorship of the annual event.

He said the company withdrawal “would mean killing athletics in the country.”

Dismal performances

Observers however feel the sport is already dead and heaped all blame on the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).

Former AFN President Smart Akaraka described the athletes' performance as “dismal” and the officiating as “terrible”.

He said: “This is trash, we have never had it so bad. Mobil is our national championship where our best talents showcase their talents. It is usually very competitive and glamorous.

“I have never seen a worse officiating. It used to be athletics at its best; this is Nigeria's athletics at its worst.

“Then, the Mobil Championships was called athletes' Christmas party; but what do we have here today, it is not better than a school inter-house sports. In fact, some inter-house sports are better organised than what we have here today.”

Noting the poor performance of the athletes at the championship, sport administrator and former national athlete, Brown Ebewele said it was “a complete shadow of what it used to be in the previous past”.

“This is not the Mobil Track most of us used to know. In the past, the Mobil is our own Grand Prix, and athletes wherever they are in the world would always come and compete.

“But look at situation now, it is nothing to write home about.

“For 15 solid years we have featured in this great championship, which is supposed to be waxing stronger but is instead dwindling. It is a big shame on the current Athletic Federation of Nigeria - the organisers of the championship,” he said.

Award winning sports journalist Olukayode Thomas said the attendance at this year's championship was “very low”.

“A visitor to the nation's capital city could hardly see poster or billboard about the championship. There was nothing on the radio or newspapers about the championship.

“Even Abuja residents did not know that a Mobil championship was taking place. The only people that watched this year's final were athletes and journalists,” he said.

‘Absolute neglect'

Meanwhile the man whom all the critics are blaming, AFN president Daniel Ngerem, has written a passionate letter to President Olusegun Obasanjo to come to the rescue of the sport.

Ngerem is worried at the way the sports ministry has not shown support for the plight of his federation to ensure that Nigerian track and field athletes get to the World Junior Championships in Grozetto, Italy and the African Championships in Brazzaville, Congo next week.

He is sad that while countries like South Africa, Jamaica and the United States sends a large contingent of between 200 and 300 athletes to attend junior and youth competitions, Nigeria could barely send 10 athletes.

“There is absolute neglect of the other sports. Athletics is the glamour sport of the Olympics and if we're not prepared to do anything for the sport, we might as well stop attending the Olympics, he said.

“If the Sports Ministry does not give out money for any major competitions, how are we going to produce athletes that will keep Nigeria's flag flying in the next couple of years?

“If all I get is N50, 000 subvention, that is not even enough to pay Secretariat staff salaries, how are we going to motivate the champions of today and encourage the future stars?” he asked.

“If Nigeria does not want to get involved in international sports, let us simply close shop. It's like all everyone cares about is football. We might as well forget other sports and concentrate everything on football.”