The year is gradually coming to a close with just over 48 hours to spare. The country has met some of her targets while others have been hampered due to political instability and acts of violence in the northern parts of the country.
In football and sports in general, Nigeria has witnessed good progress, which can be explained in the words of the NFF chairman, Amaju Pinnick.
Here’s what NFF had to share regarding their achievements for 2014:
“On behalf of the members of Executive Committee, management and staff of the NFF, and the entire Nigeria football family, the President, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick wishes you all a very Merry Christmas and a very prosperous Year 2015.
“The year 2014 was loaded with a number of remarkable achievements by Nigeria football, with the Super Eagles B winning bronze at a first-ever outing at the African Nations Championship and the Super Eagles main team reaching the Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The women then took over brilliantly, with the U-20 girls (Falconets) cruising to the final of their World Cup in Canada and the senior women (Super Falcons) lifting a seventh African title to qualify for their World Cup, also coming up in Canada, in 2015. The under-age men’s teams have not been left out, with the U-17 boys (Golden Eaglets, world champions) qualifying for the 2015 African U-17 Championship billed for Niger next year and the U-20 boys (Flying Eagles) making it to the 2015 African Youth Championship to be staged in Senegal.”
As sweet as the achievement above sounds, the most memorable achievement this year in sports came through the athletics, where Blessing Okagbare emerged as the new queen of the tracks in Glasgow.
Perhaps, outside the performance at the 1994 edition of the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, the Glasgow 2014 Games was the most fruitful moment for Nigeria. The country grabbed 11 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze medals, to finish as Africa’s second best competitor in Glasgow behind South Africa who finished with 13 gold, 17 silver and 10 bronze medals.
The stellar performance of Blessing Okagbare, the captain of Nigeria’s contingents in the track and field events, was one of the highlights of the games. Her performance in the 100 metres women’s event has been described as one of the best in the history of the Commonwealth Games. Okagbare broke the 100m records, winning gold in 10.85 seconds. She also won gold in the 200m race, thereby becoming the first Nigerian to win double gold medals in the Commonwealth Games. She was the fourth woman in Commonwealth Games history to record such an achievement.
Okagbare picked up three medals in total, winning silver with the 4x100m relay team. She could have won four medals, but the schedule for the 200m final clashed with the long jump event, which she had also entered for. However, Okagbare’s withdrawal from the long jump event turned out to be another blessing in disguise for Nigeria, as it paved the way for the emergence of a junior athlete, Ese Brume, who was competing at such a high level for the first time.
Brume had competed at the World Junior Athletics Championship in Oregon, USA few days earlier, but could not make it to the top. She arrived Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games unnoticed. When the long jump event got underway, no one focused attention on the young Brume. She started slowly, only to recover from a poor qualifying mark to win the women’s long jump with a mark of 6.56m.
The achievement by Okagbare and Brume in Glasgow is a clear indication that there is a synergy between our developmental and elite athletes’ management philosophy.
Shortly after the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Okagbare led Team Nigeria to another glorious moment in Marrakech, Morocco, where the country topped the medals table at the 19th African Athletic Championships.
Okagbare won the 100m women event, setting a new championship record. She anchored the female 4x100m relay team to win the gold in 43.56secs. Other members of the quartet include Gloria Asumnu, Dominique Duncan and Lawreta Ozoh. It was Nigeria’s fourth consecutive win of the title.
In the men’s race, Ogho-Oghene Egwero, Monzavous Edwards, Obinna Metu and Mark Jelks stormed to first position in 38.80secs.
Quarter miler Folashade Abugan also returned Nigeria to the top of the women’s 400m by winning the gold medal 16 years after Falilat Ogunkoya successfully completed a 200m/400m double in Dakar, Senegal.
To wrap up this year’s sports achievement scorecard, the encouraging impression observed this year is the balance which is being built in the Nigerian sporting line. Last year, football was overwhelmingly more successful than any other sport but this year brought about a tidal shift in the wave of glory in the sporting sector. That to me is our greatest achievement in sports this year. 2015 will definitely be eventful with more sporting events and we are looking forward to it with great anticipation.
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This article was first published on 30th December 2014
obimartins
Martins Okafor is a Sports Writer for Connect Nigeria. He has been a sport buff for years, following stories and development in leagues and international competitions. His interest led him to writing stories – reporting on sporting events. He has superior interest in soccer, but knows much about other sports. He plans to have a blog and to advance in sport journalism. You can email him at: obimartins85 [at] gmail.com
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