Solomon Dalung, former minister
of sports, say the Sunday Dare-led administration must take responsibility for
the “shame” it brought to Nigeria at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
Dalung also added that Dare, who
replaced him as the sports minister in 2019, lacks the “patriotic political
will to consolidate on the gains on the ground” hence the reason for Team
Nigeria’s numerous disappointments in Tokyo.
Team Nigeria suffered a few
avoidable logistical incidences at the Olympics, which culminated in the
disqualification of 10 athletes and Puma prematurely terminating the 4-year
contract it signed with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).
Commenting on the development in
a chat with Arise TV on Thursday, Dalung described the circumstance as a “drama
of shame” that resulted from “a war between national interest and personal
ego.”
“It is a lack of patriotic political will to
consolidate on the gains on the ground. I think what played out here is a war
between national interest and personal ego. And national interest lost the war
woefully. Personal ego won and won triumphantly in Tokyo. Nigeria is back to
square one, unfortunately,” the former minister said.
“When I was the minister, I
continued from where my predecessor ended. When we get to the field, we built
on previous successes, and Nigeria did very well.
“Dissolving federations three
months to Olympics is an indication that we are not prepared for Olympics. No
(Army) general dissolves his troops on the eve of an attack and expect to win a
war. The dissolved boards have trained and catered for the athletes for more
than two years.
“Crises are part of human existence. The
management is what determines the quality of leadership. I inherited many
crises, but I resolved them.
“Leadership is about taking
responsibilities. When things go wrong, somebody has to be responsible. The
entire drama of shame is avoidable. This is a shame that the country has found
itself.”
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