Senator John Owan Enoh, the Minister of Sports Development, has expressed deep frustration over the current state of Nigeria’s sports environment, describing it as “toxic” and “too hot to manage.” His remarks came during a reception for Team Nigeria’s wrestlers, following their disappointing performance at the recently concluded Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Speaking in a tone that reflected his growing exasperation, Enoh did not hold back in criticizing sports stakeholders and commentators who, in his view, have made his role increasingly challenging. He pointed to what he described as “nasty comments” that have followed Nigeria’s disastrous outing in Paris, where the nation failed to secure a single medal despite the significant investment of N9 billion and a large delegation of 88 athletes competing across 12 sports.
Enoh recalled his high expectations before the Games, where he confidently predicted that Team Nigeria would surpass its best Olympic performance, which was achieved at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics. However, the reality was starkly different, and the anticipated breakthrough turned into a sobering disappointment.
“The stage after the Olympics has been very toxic and, at some point, is not even related to the outcome of the Olympics,” Enoh stated, clearly exasperated. “I find this sector a very toxic one with vested interests. People have long-standing animosity with themselves and they waited for the outcome of the Olympics to voice out their frustrations.”
He continued to lament the fact that Nigeria’s past failures in international competitions had not elicited the same level of outrage and criticism that he has faced. “Nigeria has failed in the Olympics before with nothing happening, but I have been subjected to all forms of harassment,” he said.
Enoh also highlighted what he perceives as selective outrage among critics, pointing to successes that have gone largely unrecognized. “When we won, they didn’t say anything. At the 2021 AFCON, Nigeria didn’t go beyond the round of 16. The AFCON that took place this year, we played in the final, and they didn’t say anything. We went to the African Games and did wonderfully well, but they didn’t say anything as well,” he noted.
He accused certain individuals of deliberately being mischievous and misleading, suggesting that their criticisms stem from personal grievances, such as not being included in the official delegation to Paris. “They are people who should know and they know, but they are deliberately mischievous and misleading either because they wanted the Ministry to include them in the delegation to Paris, and the ministry can’t include the whole country to Paris,” Enoh asserted.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s failure to secure a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Enoh suggested that the outcome may have been a necessary wake-up call for the nation’s sports sector. “I think there was a reason why we didn’t win a medal in Paris. Paris was a reality check, and if we had come back with two or three medals, all that is going on would not be happening, and we would think that we have done well,” he said.
Enoh drew comparisons to Nigeria’s Olympic history, noting the lack of medals at the London 2012 Olympics, which prompted high-level meetings at the Aso Villa during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. He also pointed to the modest successes at the Rio 2016 Olympics and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where Nigeria secured a bronze in football, a silver in wrestling, and a bronze in long jump. Despite these achievements, he acknowledged that the Paris 2024 Olympics have become a turning point, signaling the need for substantial changes within the sports sector.
“I’m glad with the conversations that are going on in sports,” Enoh concluded, though he made it clear that he was not justifying the failure to win a medal. “Like I said at the beginning, I’m not justifying why we didn’t win a medal,” he reiterated, clearly distressed by the ongoing criticism and the challenges ahead for Nigeria’s sports development.
