BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU
The Secretary-General of the Nigeria Olympics Commission, Tunde Popoola has revealed that Nigerian athletes get four years funding from the Olympics solidarity to enable them train ahead of the forthcoming Olympics.
This was revealed on Saturday, during the 4th annual public lecture of the Sport Centre Awareness forum tagged Paris Olympics: Rising From the Ashes, which took place at the Abesan Youth Centre in Lagos.
Popoola who was represented at the event by the NOC project officer for Youth Sports, Kemi Obidahunsi disclosed this while presenting the lecture on behalf of the Secretary-General at the event.
“Every elite athlete gets funding from the Olympic solidarity for four years to enable them train and plan ahead of the next Olympics” she started.
“They get as much as $10,000 in a year for training and it takes effect from December”. “This means that all the athletes who are preparing for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics will get their grants from December 2024”.
“The Nigeria Olympic Committee does not interfere or determine who gets this funding”. “It is expressly the responsibility of the International Olympic body to do so because the process is so transparent”.
In fact, we as the NOC do not even get administrative charges as the monies are paid directly into the athletes account from the International Olympics without any third party involved”.
While speaking during the lecture, Kemi however regretted that it’s unfortunate that the NOC relaxes and does not perform oversight functions on the athletes to ensure they use the funds for the purpose it was granted.
“It is sad we do not monitor the athletes and ensure that they use the grant for the purpose which it was given which is basically training” she said. “And this leads to the athletes using these monies for other personal things which was not why the money was given”.
Kemi who agreed that the NOC will sit-up and keep an eye on the athletes further noted that the NOC is not one of the government parastatals.
“The Nigeria Olympics Committee is not a government parastatal and we do not get grants from the Federal government, but a lot of people do not understand this and they think we are”.
While concluding her lecture, the lecture made recommendations towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics which are: increased funding and support, enhanced training programs, talent identification and development, mental and physical preparation, encouraging participation in a variety of sports.
Others are engaging good sports administrators and commitment to professional growth and adaptability to the changing landscape of sports in Nigeria as the ways forward towards a tremendous opportunity to transcend historical performance challenges.
