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‘My wife will not win’
Uzor Odigbo
Correspondent
I met this coach one evening at the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed
Airport, International wing. He told me he arrived a day before but came to the
airport in search of his missing luggage. He had forgotten this in the cabin of
Lufthansa aircraft on arrival from his base in the United States of
America.
It is always a reporter’s delight when such a
big news peg happens around. Coach Tony Osheku, is a celebrated athlete, one of
the dutiful ones this country had produced. In his active athletic days as 800m
runner, Osheku distinguished himself as a hard worker on the track. Even when
he quit active sports to become a trainer, his methodology was different from
what any local Nigeria coach could offer.
When finally he took over his wife’s training
responsibilities, there was a change in her performance years after.
Tony as friends fondly call him, is the husband of
Chief Falilat Ogunkoya-Osheku, Nigeria’s legendry 400m Atlanta ‘96
Olympic bronze medalist.
Tony explained his mission in the country after
living in US for many years as an athlete and coach/manager. Part of that
mission in Nigeria was to raise young talents to greatness alongside
sorting out a few crucial personal
matters.
Saturday Independent cornered Osheku to talk about the
recent responsibility his wife had taken on for the Ogun state government. Yhe question was whether his wife would be able to take
the state to the top of the medals table at the end of the Gateway National Sports
festival next year.
Though he went straight to the point, his remarks
were nonetheless as surprising as
it was baffling. He said “My wife would not win the games”.
Asked
whether he was not being
unpatriotic in his remarks, Osheku said, “it depends on how you
look at it. What I am sure of is that Fali would win a gold medal in her
traditional event the 400m. But, winning the festival over-all, that would be
difficult”
Tony gave the following reasons, “Look, I know
Fali, she would not border herself recruiting ready made athletes around the
country to enable her win like other states. What she may likely do is recruit
young and inexperienced talents from schools around Ogun State. These talents,
I must confess, might not mature in time to win medals at the sports
festival”
Again, he expressed regret that the purpose for which
the festival was originally instituted was gradually being eroded. Take for
example, states that recruit ready-made athletes to compete for them, some of
these athletes have gained international experience at previous meets.
“This is the more reason why Fali won’t win the festival at this
stage, but if the state grants her enough time to properly groom the young
talents that may be discovered at the 2006 festival, they would become great
athletes in future games”
Osheku went memory lane to buttress the importance of
catching them young. According to him, Fali was not a ready made athlete in the
80’s when she first represented Nigeria. She was discovered from school
sports and today, she passes as one of the greatest athletes ever produced by
this country.
Osheku who holds a masters degree in physiology and
other certificates in relevant sports disciplines rates Ogun State as one of
the front runners for medals at the event..
Osheku further remarked that Fali intended to recruit
athletes that had not been discovered. These unknown quantity can up-set the
apple chart and I think, this is what fali wants to exploit in her preparation
for the Gateway festival”
“Why I also feel that my wife might not win the
festival is the politics involved in the games. Besides, recruiting the best
athletes, you are also required to be in a cordial relationship with categories
of coaches, umpires, ministry staffs and the press” All these put together
might turn out Fali’s
nightmare at the festival because she comes from a different background that
doesn’t recognize the aforementioned as hindrance to success.
The former trainer of Nigeria’s 100m record
holder Seun Ogunkoya also remarked that Fali was saddled with responsibilities
that called for assistance. Given the attention of Governor Gbenga Daniels on
sports matters, she is expected to approach her job like a professional. On the
other hand, she is also the director of
Team Ogun, with responsibility of packaging the state athletes for the
festival. And having lived outside the country for many years now, Fali’s
approach to some issues might look strange to some people, as she would not be
amenable to the “Nigerian factor in her dealings with people”.
On whether his wife has extended an invitation to him
for help, Osheku did not find the salvor comfortable, but braced up to the fact
that, “if she needs me and I am available, I would be there for
her”
Osheku equally recognised the fact that Nigeria had
abundant talents in all sports and wondered why the country had not harnessed
such in her Olympic outings like US and China. He buttressed the fact that
athletes that represented the US at the Athens Olympic Games came from the
collegiate system, unlike the ones that represented Nigeria in Athenswho were five years out-dated. Contending that, America had no regard
for professional athletes, but more respect for young talents that represented
the future of American sports industry, he warned that if Nigeria did not wake
up now in relation to who represented her at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Athens
Olympic would be more tolerable as to the shame of failure poor performance
would bring to the nation.
The athletes’ trainer also commented on the
possible privatisation of sports in the country. He noted that for sports and
sports industries to excel, government would need to know where and what roles
it had to play. “Government should indulge in school sports and amateur
grass-root sports and not professional sports. If government keeps running sports here, the industry would
not grow and those whose lives are dependant on it would remain
impoverished” he argued.
According to
him, his reasons for returning to the country was to assist in grooming future
talents. He also appeals to government to encourage schools to run sports as
courses and encourage students to
participate in sports generally..
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