Despite wasting over N9 billion on 88 athletes to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Nigeria remains the worst loser in the prestigious event due to corruption and shoddy preparation
By Patrick Ogboru
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games have come and gone, but Nigeria and Nigerians are still counting their losses as the 88 athletes the country paraded at the event lacked the necessary preparation to win any medals. The athletes and the officials came to Paris, the capital city of France, they saw but were unable to conquer, hence they could not capture any gold, silver or bronze medals to justify the huge investment of N9 billion which the country doled out for the Olympic Games.
Nigeria’s dismal outing at the just concluded Olympic Games has attracted reactions and criticism from prominent Nigerians, notable among them being His Eminence, Peter Obi the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) at the 2023 general election. Team Nigeria went to Olympics on the back of some great performances in qualifying events. The country registered for 12 events, but sadly, like the previous games, failed to translate its continental dominance at the Olympics.
A series of heartbreaking losses and some administrative lapses saw Nigerian athletes return home without even a medal. It was said that president Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the sum of N12 billion for the country’s participation at the Olympics and Paralympics.
N9 billion was for the Paris 2024 Olympics while N3 billion was budgeted for the Paralympics.
