Nigeria Wres­tling Federation (NWF) Presi­dent, Hon Daniel Igali is optimistic that his wres­tlers would live up to expec­tations when mats action begins on Tuesday July 29.
Nigeria is among the four top countries in the wres­tling event at the Glasgow Games, Igali said the posi­tive attitude his wards ex­hibited during their brief training tour in Romania is an indication of what to ex­pect at the games.
As the chairman, techni­cal commission of the Ni­geria Olympic Committee, Igali is playing a dual role of overseeing his wrestlers and the entire Team Nigeria in Glasgow.
Always protective of his wards, Igali in this inter­view with Daily Sunsports, refused to put his athletes under pressure about the color or number of medals they can win for Nigeria in wrestling.
Igali also spoke about his ambition to be elected into the FILA Bureau later in September in Uzbekistan.
Target of Team Nigeria at the Games
The hope is to improve on the achievements of the New Delhi 2010 Common­wealth Games. How it will translate to medals is left to be seen until the ends of the games.
I believe that we have the talents in our athletes to do well and the most important thing is to encourage our athletes to go and surpass their medal feat in India. The crop of athletes we have can give us this result.
Medal prospects in wres­tling?
The glimpses of the good things I saw in Romania is very encouraging. The atti­tude was very positive, the discipline and excitement of the games was very visible. I am happy with the training tour because it achieved a lot for the athletes.
We are strong contenders for medals because Nigeria is among the top four coun­tries in wrestling. Definitely we will win medals, but the color and number is what ,I don’t know.
We are hopeful as a feder­ation that our wrestlers will not disappoint Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games. However, it would be irre­sponsible of me to mention the number and color of medals the wrestlers should and can win. My attitude to­wards this Games is that of being content with whatever medals we win. I do not want to put much pressure on the athletes.
At the last Common­wealth games you were very open about our medals prospect. Why are you not forthcom­ing with predictions this time?
During the last Com­monwealth Games, as the technical adviser, I was able to predict with almost 90percent accuracy, the medals we were capable of winning. This time, how­ever,  my technical team is optimistic of our chances in Glasgow, but I wouldn’t volunteer information on number of medals, espe­cially gold medals. Only 30percent of the members on the last Commonwealth Games team are on the cur­rent team.
As happy and excited as I am that there is turn-over in athletes and new talents are discovered, it also means that experience is sacrificed. I therefore have to be patient with results and not expect too much and ultimately put too much pressure on the team.
I have always believed that it’s not how hard or long one trains that gets the job done, it’s how well and how smartly one prepares that gets it done. Ideal scenarios are the stuff of dreams. I can say we have done what could be done in the circum­stances. The athletes,  are in my view, in the mood to compete and challenge for medals for Nigeria.
At least, you have a set targe for the team?
The target the federation has set for the team is for each athlete to give 100per­cent effort on the mats in Glasgow.
Governor Dickson’s love and support for the wrestlers?
Bayelsa State Governor, Seraike Dickson has been our biggest and number one supporter.
I am not surprised be­cause he was a wrestler and has passion for the sport.
He came to Scotland days before the opening ceremony and visited the wrestlers in camp. The athletes no doubt are over joyed and motivated by the love he had shown them, it has gone a long way in lift­ing the spirit of the athletes.
This is not the first time he has put smiles on the faces of our athletes, during the last Olympics, not only did he make the wrestlers smile by giving large finan­cial incentives, he also gave financial emoluments to all other Nigerian Athletes and officials that were in Ger­many in preparation for the Olympics
In addition to cash incen­tives, Governor Dickson has been hosting the annual Gov. Dickson Wrestling Classics in Bayelsa State. This year, we intend to host two tournaments in Bay­elsa, the President Good­luck Challenge and the Gov. Dickson Classics in October and December respectively. The wrestling Federation is indeed very grateful to Gov. Dickson for his near-fanatical support for wres­tling. He has promised to build a wrestling  gym that will be the only fully dedi­cated wrestling gym in this part of the world. The aim is to ensure that we have un-obstructed access to a facil­ity where training can go on without hindrance.
The governor has also promised as part of the one-state-one-medal cam­paign of the NOC, to raise an Olympic medallist from wrestling in Bayelsa State. The implication is that a few wrestlers of Bayelsa origin will start a very high level preparation program for the Olympics immedi­ately after the Common­wealth Games. Gov. Dick­son was a wrestler, so I am not surprised that he has this much passion and support for the sport. This informs most of the decisions he has made to support the sport. For instance, when Wres­tling was almost withdrawn from the Olympic Games Programme, The Gover­nor sponsored all my trips to Russia and Argentina to support the reinstatement of Wrestling at the Olympics. In fact, after the successful reinstatement, the President of FILA wrote a letter to thank his excellency for the role he played.
I can go on and on about Gov. Dickson’s invaluable contributions to our sport­ing fortunes in Wrestling. Recently when I was being encouraged to submit my candidacy for the Executive Board of the International wrestling Federation, I did not submit my candidacy till I got the support of the governor. That is the confi­dence the wrestling family places on our biggest sup­porter and benefactor, Hon. Seriake Dickson and I hope the athletes will make him proud.
What are your visions for wrestling in the country and how do you intend to achieve it?
It is the aim of the Nige­ria Wrestling Federation to be among the top-10 wres­tling nations in the world. It is also our aim to have some measure of financial independence so we are not fully reliant on government for funding. We also intend to have a private wrestling facility to allow our nation­al team athletes to train year round.
As part of efforts to at­tain some level of financial independence, by middle of August this year, under the chairmanship of Dr. God­knows B. Igali – chairman of patrons, we intend to have a fundraising dinner. It will be the first of a number of fundraising events aimed at ensuring some financial freedom for the federation.
It’s my view that to have any of our athletes win medals in 2016, we need them to train and compete outside the country for be­tween 3 – 6 months every year. These concepts don’t come cheap. In spite of the working agreements we have with several training centers around the world, we need the financial base to effect these lofty plans.
We shall see how well we do in Glasgow, but what we do as a country and as a sports establishment af­ter Glasgow will determine whether we are serious or whether we are merely paying lip service and toy­ing with the fortunes and futures of our young and promising citizens.
FILA ambition?

My FILA ambition is not a personal thing but for Nigeria, Africa and Canada. Yes, I fully intend to con­test the elections and I am in very good rapour with FILA eggheads.
It is likely that the com­monwealth family will adopt me because we have never had an elected Afri­can member and I am hop­ing to be one.
I will do a lot of lobby­ing at the Commonwealth Games, I believe that things will work out well.
 

My wrestlers have attitude of champions –Igali