Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, has voiced his discontent with the Nigerian government following the nation’s poor showing at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Despite the hefty investment of billions of naira, Team Nigeria returned from the Olympic Games empty-handed, failing to secure a single medal, while nine other African nations celebrated their victories on the podium.
Obi, who previously served as the governor of Anambra State, expressed his disappointment, marking this as the eighth consecutive Olympic Games where Nigeria has come away without any medals.
He drew attention to the stark disparity between Team Nigeria’s underwhelming results and the success of athletes of Nigerian descent competing for other countries, who collectively won four medals—almost matching Nigeria’s best Olympic performance.
“We poured approximately N12 billion into this Olympic endeavor, which is nearly double the budget allocated for the entire Ministry of Science and Technology this year. This amounts to over N136 million (around $85,000) spent on each of the 88 Nigerian athletes, and yet we walked away with nothing,” he lamented.
Obi criticized what he termed as reckless financial management and ineffective leadership that he believes contributed to this failure. He pointed out that Jamaica, which invested significantly less, managed to secure six medals.
“Jamaica, with a total expenditure of merely $2,300 per athlete, achieved six medals—one gold, three silver, and two bronze. We must critically examine how we made such a substantial investment without any returns,” he stated.
He stressed the importance of prioritizing skill and competence over favoritism to avoid similar disappointments in the future.
“Tragic outcomes like this arise because we have consistently chosen to overlook competence and capacity in favor of favoritism in Nigeria,” he concluded.
