One of Nigeria’s foremost sports medicine practitioners, Dr. Akin Amao has called for a total overhaul of Nigerian sports industry, if the country were to rediscover its sports process.
He argued that it will be an exercise in futility, if the national sports commission and its affiliate sports federations embark on any sports development without putting in place the entire requisite components of sports development in place. According to him, these include sports science, training of coaches, discovery and grooming of young athletes and building infrastructure.
Amao, was speaking against the background of Nigeria, with a population of over 150m having to rely on only one athlete to perform at major international events.
“We are only just scratching the surface in Nigeria. There are so many things we are doing wrong and we are thinking of getting good results.
“Sports science is one crucial aspect we are not looking at. This is one of the major reasons our athletes are not doing well physically and psychologically. Take a look at the performance of Blessing Okagbare, we may ask why she is doing well at smaller meets and then at the big occasions, she fails to show up when it matters.
“Physically, she is more endowed than the Jamaican runner, Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce. But the difference is that the Jamaican lady has a very good start and mentally she is tough. These are the things lacking in Okagbare. If we had our sports scientists working, she and indeed other growing athletes will do well.
“We have high performance centres, but they are not functioning the way they ought to be. Go to South African and see what they are doing there,” Amao stated.
Report By,
Vanguard News
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