FACTORS AFFECTING SPORTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Nigerian sports have not been stable over the years largely because of poor administration and management. According to Ademola (2018) sports in Nigeria today has been faced with numerous challenges and this is evident in the performance of the national teams at various sports during international competitions.

Current State of the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos

Nigeria actually performs well at a few event such as;

1.  The FIFA Under 17 male world cup (winning 5 out of 17 world championship and becoming the most successful team at the tournament)

2. The CAF women championship (winning 10 out of 12 championships) 

3. The Paralympics games (winning 36 gold, 18 silver and 16 bronze medals at seven appearances from 1992 to 2018 while the Olympians have 3 gold 10 silver and 12 bronze medals, at 16 appearances from 1952 to 2018)

Many people will wonder why a country which is the 7 largest in the world (>195 million people) by population would find it difficult to produce athletes that would do well at sports internationally. For example, Hungary with a population of about 9.5 million which is less than 5% of Nigeria's population finished 12th at the 2016 Olympic games with 8 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals while Nigeria finished 78th position with only one bronze medal.

Why is this possible? Does population count really translate to good standing in sports?

The truth of the matter is that having a large population can be useful in doing well in many sporting events, however it has to come with good organization, early talent identification, development and management. 

China (Population of >1.4 billion) had a total of 70 medals at the 2016 Olympics and finished 3rd overall, however India (Population of >1.3 billion) had a total of 2 medals finishing at 67th position. The difference lies in sports administration in both countries right from its planning, organization, directing, staffing, coordinating of sports at various levels in the country.

Back to Nigeria's Factors Influence Sports Development

There are various factors affecting the development of sports in Nigeria today and they include: 

1. Poor talent identification system from the grassroots

2. Inadequate transitioning of athletes from age grade competitions to the national team

3. Greater focus on funding male football 

4. Inadequate funding of other sports

5. Corruption

6. Poor state of Facilities and Inadequate equipment

7. Unavailability of the right coaching and training for many athletes

8. Age cheat in some sports

9. Poor reward and incentives system for athletes in many sports

10. Poor school sports system

11.  Transfer of top athletes abroad, among others

1. Poor talent identification system from the grassroots

It has been observed that to harness the benefits of a large population size, there should be proper talent identification from the early state. This would help in selecting exceptionally gifted athletes early, and training them properly in other to become world class and excel in their chosen sports. It has been observed that some countries like China, United states, Great Britain, e.t.c all identify a significant amount of their world class athletes from an early age. 

2. Inadequate transitioning of athletes from age grade competitions to the national team

This is also an issue in Nigerian sports over time. We sometimes produce exceptional athletes at the age grade events who even go all the way to beat their peers but after such events, those athletes are never called up again. This in turn makes the age grade tournament irrelevant in terms of sports development in Nigeria. However, if the right athletes are chosen within the stipulated age range to represent the country and they are properly guided to ensure they get a chance to progress to the next stage, then true transitioning has taken place which could help foster sports development.

3. Greater focus on funding male football 

It is no more news that male footballers receive better funding, rewards and incentives than female footballers and other sports in general from the sports federation. This however is sometimes caused by sponsorship and a large interest in football by a majority of Nigerians. However, this hinders the development of other sports. 

4. Inadequate funding of other sports

In Nigeria, as long as sports funding is concerned, sadly its football and other sports. No sport gets equal funding as much as football regardless of success at international competitions. There has been many cases of athletes not going for competitions as a result of inadequate funds while in the same period, footballers get travel funds plus match bonuses for friendly matches. In 2016, for example only one weight lifter represented Nigeria at the Olympics because other athletes could not be sponsored to go for qualifiers that would have made them eligible to participate at the Olympics.

5. Corruption

This is one major issue not only in sports but in the country as a whole. Corruption can be  from the area of selection of athletes for competition, diversion of some funds for athletes to private pockets, employing staffs not adequately qualified to lead the sports commission, bribing of match officials, among others. This in turn will definitely hamper the development of sports in Nigeria. 

6. Poor state of facilities and inadequate equipment

To develop in sports, athletes should train using world class sports facilities and equipment and failure to do so makes them not to fully develop their full potential. it is no more news that the state of many sports facilities in many states across Nigeria is very bad. For instance during qualifiers for football events, only 2 or 3 stadiums can be used in the whole of the country just because others are so bad and playing on them could negatively affect the teams performance. The national stadium in Lagos for example is so bad that no competitive match has be played there for years and this is mainly because of poor management culture. 

It is also important to note that some athletes don't have access to the right sporting equipment during their development state from the young age, and this in turn prevents them from developing in time to their full potential.

7. Unavailability of the right coaching and training for many athletes

Sports development at a young age can be hindered by the wrong training and coaching. Even for a talented athlete, if he or she does not train and acquire the right skills and training such athlete cannot fully develop in his or her sport. In Nigeria, there are many unqualified coaches currently training athletes from the young age and this in turn affects sports development in the country. It is very difficult to be the best in the world when you undergo the wrong training and principles to the sports.

8. Age cheat in some sports

Age falsification influences sports development in many ways. For example if a footballer reduces his/her age by 10 years and claims 15 years old, such individual might be exception at age grade competitions because he/she is playing with significantly younger athletes not fully developed however, in the next 10 years when he/she is 35, and the peers are 25, there will be a significant difference in performance and such athlete might be made to retire early, hence the country does not get enough of such athlete.

Age cheat also prevents true development of young athletes because the really talented athletes for that specific age group that are supposed to represent their country will be sidelined for better but older players and hence, they don't get the experience and exposure they deserve.

9. Poor reward and incentives system for athletes in many sports

The reward and incentive system in many sports is really poor and young people seeing this will simply decide not to do some sports because they know even if they are champions for the country they might still suffer financially so they easily opt for the sports that pays more. Footballers in Nigeria get more motivation and rewards for a good performance than other athletes. 

10. Poor school sports system

School sports is a veritable means of sports development in many countries around the world today. An effective school sports system can help produce world class athletes. A typical example is the Usian Bolt, regarded as the fastest man alive. He was identified through school sports, participating in many school athletics meets in Jamaica. In America, many talents are identified through school sports like basketball, athletics, baseball, swimming among others.

However in Nigeria, there is no national secondary school athletics championship in place to bring together the very best of talent from across the country or zones. If school sports in Nigeria can be developed from the local government level to the state level to the National level, the country will produce even better talents that can easily be identified, monitored and groomed to represent the country at international sports events.
Read: Intramural Sports in Nigeria

11.  Transfer of top athletes abroad, among others

Many top class athletes are leaving the country to seek greener pastures in terms of personal athletic development, career development and financial development. Because of the poor standard of the league system, poor funding, inadequate facilities and equipment, poor salary structure, among others many athletes are forced to look else where for their professional career, this in turn makes good athletes leave the country and hence sports development and performance suffers.

Also Read: Concept of Recreation
Concept of Sports


How to Reference this article 

Ademola, V. D (2018). Factors affecting sports development in NIGERIA. Retrieved from https://www.youdread.com/2015/05/factors-affecting-sports-development-in.html