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It is hard looking at the ruins of Nigerian sports to believe that this country has produced some of the finest athletes to have competed on the world stage.

At independence we got off the blocks early with Dick Ihetu, appropriately nicknamed Dick Tiger for his combative fighting style, battering American Gene Fulman to become Nigeria’s second world champion in boxing.

Along the line, there are remarkable moments that have made one proud to be a Nigerian. The Atlanta 1996 Games where within the twinkle of an eye we won two gold medals to make up for nearly four decades of barrenness. My most memorable moment of that games was Nigeria’s victory over Brazil in the semi final of football event.

Watching that game, I was almost having heart seizure as Brazil led 3-1 with 12 minutes left. And then the magic began. Victor Ikpeba pulled one back before Nwankwo Kanu masterfully kills off the five-time world champions with two breathtaking goals.

And then of course, are the other great moments in football-the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations triumph in Nigeria, which effectively cemented our claims to being a continental football power; the second Nations Cup title in 1994 and our first appearance at the FIFA World Cup a few months later. We recall also the 2003 feat of Aba clubside, Enyimba, which ended Nigeria’s nearly 40 years wait for a CAF Champions League title.

Worthy accomplishments

The valiant efforts of our young football stars who after winning the inaugural edition of the FIFA U-16 World cup in China, went on to claim two other titles in 1993 and 2007, also underscore the contribution of Nigerian sportsmen to burnishing of the national image internationally. And the women were not left out. Nigeria’s senior women football team, the Super Falcon thoroughly dominated the football scene winning the first five editions of the Arfican Women’s championships and appearing at every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup to date.

Away from football, there are the exploits of our track and field athletes. Our post independent generation of athletes continued in the footsteps of the older generation like Josiah Majekodunmi (father of table tennis star, Olawunmi Majekodunmi), Abdulkareem Amu and Violet Odogwu-Nwajei. Easily the most outstanding of the 1970s was the delectable Modupe Oshikoya who at the 1973 All Africa Games hosted by Nigeria, won three gold medals and added another two at the 1978 edition in Algeria.

Sharing the same decade with Oshikoya was Charlton Ehizuelen. Ehizuelen, who after being tipped to win a medal for Nigeria at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and denied opportunity to do so following Nigeria’s withdrawal from the games, vented his spleen at his rivals at the 1978 All Africa games where he leapt to gold in the Long Jump and Triple Jump events.

If Oshikoya and Ehizuelen earned respect for Nigerian athletes, the constellation of stars that were to burst onto the Nigerian athletics scene in the 1980s, were to situate Nigeria firmly in the ranks of leading athletics nations in the world. Athletes like Innocent Egbunike, Chidi Imoh, Falilat Ogunkoya, Mary Onyali, Olapade Adenekan, Davidson and Osmond Ezinwa, Beatrice Utondu, Chioma Ajunwa and later, Francis Obikwelu, Glory Alozie, Deji Aliu, Uchenna Emedolu, Mercy Nku and Endurance Ojokolo, revolutionised the Nigerian athletics landscape winning medals in major international events like the Olympics and world championships.

At about the same time Nigerian sportsmen in other disciplines were holding their own squarely with their foreign counterparts particularly in boxing where names like Jeremiah Okorodudu, Joe Orewa, Fighting Romanus, Peter Konyegwachie, Christopher Ossai dominated the scene. These were to be replaced much later by names like David Dafiagbon, David Izonritei, Duncan Dokiwari and Richard Igbenegu.

In all, it has been fifty years of accomplishments for our sportsmen. Today not many in government spare a thought for these individuals. If anything, many of them live in regret with some changing nationality in frustration. As we mark fifty years of existence as an independent nation, there is no better time to say thank you to these heroes and heroines who have brought us so much joy and respect.