The performance of Nigeria’s contingent at the just con­cluded 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, is an indication of the lofty heights that our sportsmen and women can attain with team spirit, discipline and adequate preparations for global com­petitions.
Team Nigeria, as the contingent is known, won a total of 36 medals, comprising 11 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze, to emerge 8th on the overall medals table and second best among the Commonwealth countries in Afri­ca, after South Africa.
This, indeed, is a sterling perfor­mance. The nation’s medals haul is just one short of Nigeria’s best outing in the Commonwealth Games since it began in 1930. That was in Victoria, in 1994, when the country garnered a to­tal of 37 medals.
Remarkably, wrestling accounts for the majority of Nigeria’s medals at the games, with 12 medals, made up of two gold, two silver and eight bronze med­als. Nigeria competed in six sports at the Glasgow games. These are track and field (athletics), boxing, shooting, weightlifting, wrestling, table tennis, and two para-sports (power-lifting and para-tennis).
There were several highs and lows for the team. The soaring performance of Blessing Okagbare, the captain of Nigeria’s contingent in the track and field events, is indisputably one of the highlights of the games. Her red-hot performance in the 100 metres wom­en’s event has been described as one of the best in the history of the games. Okagbare broke the 100m record, win­ning gold in 10.85 seconds. She also won gold in the 200m race, thereby becoming the first Nigerian to win double gold medals in the Common­wealth Games.
While we commend Team Nigeria for making the country proud, Okagbare stood out among the pack. She exhib­ited unflappable determination and courage and proved that nothing is be­yond the reach of an individual who is focused and well prepared to achieve a goal. In a multi-sports event such as the Commonwealth Games, in which 71 countries participated, hearing Ni­geria’s national anthem and seeing the country’s flag flying during presenta­tion of medals, was quite heartening. Our athletes had a fair share of the spotlight at this event and Nigerians are very happy about it. We, therefore, call on the athletes and the sports au­thorities to build on the team’s perfor­mance.
It is, however, regrettable that the nation’s joy over Team Nigeria’s per­formance was tainted by the drug-test failure of teenage weightlifter, Miss Chika Amalaha, who won Nigeria’s first gold medal at the games before she tested positive to a banned substance. Nothing should be left to chance in the probe of this embarrassing incident. The investigation, which the Sports Minister, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, has promised, should explore the possi­bility of the complicity of coaches as well as officials in the young athlete’s exposure to banned substances. This is necessary to avoid a repeat of such incident in future.
The doping incident is, however, an isolated one. It should, therefore, not take the shine off the good perfor­mance of the team. We applaud Fed­eral Government’s plan to host the medalists. Such reception by the pres­idency will motivate the athletes to perform better in future competitions. It is not only footballers that deserve such presidential reception. What is good for our footballers is equally good for other sportsmen and women in the country.
It is also necessary that in planning for future games, the sports authori­ties should expand our medal pros­pects. There are other sports with great medal prospects, such as swim­ming, that are yet to be explored. For instance, Australia and South Africa won majority of their medals from swimming. Although wrestling gave Nigeria the biggest medals haul, it is one sport that Nigeria can dominate in the commonwealth if it is taken more seriously.
Part of the lessons learnt from the Commonwealth Games are the need for early preparation, teamwork and good administration. It is obvious from the results that the athletes that ex­celled started preparing early by tak­ing part in international competitions. Okagbare is a good example. Her per­formance at last year’s World Athlet­ics Competition in Moscow, where she won a silver, paid off in Glasgow 2014.
Altogether, the end of every sporting competition should mark the begin­ning of preparations for future sports events. In that regard, our medalists should not rest on their oars. We urge them to get involved in as many inter­national championships as possible, while the government and private or­ganisations should invest more heav­ily in various aspects of sports.
 

Nigeria’s sterling performance in Glasgow