Call for minister’s sack rages as Paris Olympics end without Nigeria on medal table

“What will the Sports Minister John Owen Enoh tell President Bola Tinubu now that Nigeria failed to win a single medal at the Paris Olympics?” That was the big question by the chairman of Gombe State Athletics Association, Shuiabu Gara-Gombe, on Friday, shortly after World Record holder, Tobi Amusan, failed to qualify for the final of the 100m hurdles event at the Paris Olympics.

Amusan, who was Nigeria’s last hope for a medal in Paris, will not be running in the Olympic 100m hurdles final after she finished third in her semifinal heat and her 2.55sec run was not fast enough to secure one of the two fastest losers’ slot.

To make it a terrible Friday for Nigeria, the men’s 4x400m relay team of Ifeanyi Ojeli, Nathaniel Ezekiel, Dubem Amene and Chidi Okezie, was disqualified for running out of their lanes after raising Nigerians hope of making history as the nation’s first team to run in the final of the event since Athens 2004 Olympics.

Gara-Gombe, a former chairman of Gombe United FC, described Team Nigeria’s outing at the Paris Olympics as the worst.

“Yes, Nigeria’s participation in this Paris 2024 is the worst Olympic competing with London 2012 in the medal finish,” he said in his message to The Guardian. “And I blame the Sports Minister for this worst outing because he never planned well for the Olympics.

“When he was supposed to plan for the Paris Olympics, the minister was busy following NFA up and down looking for football coach and getting himself involve in technical matters and at the same time hosting all sorts of jokers and mediocres in the name of partnership and collaboration. He was busy travelling from one country to another doing nothing,” he said.

According to Gara-Gome, another problem that led to