The Labour Party (LP) chieftain, Peter Obi has expressed his displeasure with Team Nigeria for their failure to win any medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Team Nigeria finished its campaign at the Paris 2024 Olympics without winning a single medal.
Hannah Reuben was the last athlete left to salvage a medal for Nigeria but she lost her second round fight in women’s freestyle #wrestling 76kg, losing 5-2 (Victory by points) to Mongolia’s Davaanasan Amar Enkh.
It has been a chastening Olympics for Nigerian Sports, the country’s worst outing at the global showpiece since London 2012.
Team Nigeria had hopes of winning medals courtesy of the likes of Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili and Ese Brume but it ended in disappointment as they all faltered.
Obi reacting to Team Nigeria’s disappointing outing at Paris 2024 on Sunday via a post on his X account said he is displeased.
“Now that the Paris Olympics 2024 has officially ended and our dear Team Nigeria, despite the huge financial investment made into the project, is returning without a single medal, let me unreservedly register my displeasure with the performance of our team and their handlers,” Obi said.
“The rascality and recklessness that has continued to characterise leadership in our nation in nearly every department.
“The general impression that has come to stick is the one that portrays our country as a joke, even on the international stage.
“How can one explain that a country like Jamaica spent less than 5% of what we spent on our contingents for the Paris Olympics 2024 and won as many as 6 medals.
“Yet with our huge financial investments and large contingent, we could not win even a single medal?
“At least, nine African countries won gold but the giant with over 200m people came home without even a bronze!
“We invested about N12 billion in this year’ s Olympics, which is almost twice the amount budgeted for the entire Ministry of Science and Technology for this year.
“This is over N136 million (about $85,000) spent on each of the 88 Nigerian contingents to the Olympics, and no single medal was won.
“Meanwhile Jamaica, a nation which spent far less than we did, a total of about $2300 on each contingent, won 6 medals; 1 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze at the Olympics.”
Obi called for interrogation into the relationship between this huge investment and Team Nigeria’s dismal outcome.
He lamented that sad stories like this are the country’s lot only because we have refused to embrace competence and capacity over routine and favouritism in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s participation at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France was the 18th time that the country would take part in the global sports competition.
Team Nigeria first participated in the Summer Olympics back in the year 1952 and has sent athletes to compete in every edition since then except for the boycotted one in 1976.
Nigeria has so far won 27 medals (3 gold, 11 silver, 13 bronze), mostly in athletics and boxing with the football team winning gold in Atlanta 1996.
