Northern states explain poor performance at Asaba 2022

It is no longer news that almost all the northern states that participated in the just concluded National Sports Festival (NSF) in Asaba, Delta State put up an abysmal performance as they occupied the bottom half of the medals table.

What is, however, news is that some of the states have come out to explain why they faltered at the biennial sports festiva which was held from November 28 to December 10, with the Stephen Keshi stadium Asaba as the main centre for the events.

A look at the medals table shows that most of the medals on offer were won by southern states with the host state, Delta amassing 320 gold, 200 silver and 128 bronze for a total of 648 medals to retain their title. Bayelsa hauled 132 gold, 115 silver and 90 bronze to place second while Edo came third with 78 gold, 94 silver and 167 bronze.

Kano which emerged the best performing state from the north managed to win 19 gold, 27 silver and 30 bronze medals to finish in 7th position just as the closest to Kano was Plateau State which came a distant 16th on the table with 4 gold, 12 silver and 26 bronze medals.

• Another look at life, death, blind Nigerians and 2023
• Lack of schedule, inadequate work space make NBAIS staff redundant

While northern states like Nasarawa, Bauchi, Kebbi, Taraba, Jigawa, Sokoto and Gombe failed to win a single gold medal, the worst performing state was no doubt Zamafara which ended the games without a single medal.

The poor performance of the northern states didn’t come to many as a surprise because that has been the trend for some time now. States from the north hardly do well especially now that the sports festival is thrown open.

However, as reactions continue to trail their lacklustre performance in Asaba, Trust Sports sought to know from some of the states the factors responsible for their unsatisfactory outing at the games.

In his reaction, the Chairman of Kano State Sports Commission, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, expressed satisfaction with the performance of his athletes at the games.

He, however, said most states in the north are lagging behind in sports development because of lack of facilities for training of athletes.

“I am satisfied with our performance in Asaba because we were able to improve on our performance in Benin City. At the 20th edition, we finished 10th but in Asaba we came 7th which to me is an achievement.

“The north is blessed with talents but our major setback is lack of sporting facilities and lukewarm attitude towards sports by some of the Governors,” he said.

On his part, the chairman Jigawa Sports Council, Mukhtar Alkali, regretted that despite support from the Government, Team Jigawa finished in 34th position.

He said to avert future disappointment, the state will pay more attention to grooming young athletes who would make the state proud.

Alkali also lauded Governor Muhammadu Badaru for his support for sports development in the state.

However, the Chairman of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Jigawa State Chapter, Suleiman Isyaku Danbatta, blamed the failure of Team Jigawa on nepotism and favouritism in selection of athletes.

He said “Godfathers influenced selection of athletes. Those without godfathers didn’t make it to Asaba. And some of the athletes who represented Jigawa are not from the state so they didn’t show enough commitment,” he said.

Also speaking, the Director of Sports in Kogi State Sports Council, Onikpe Obakachi, who refused to disclose the challenges Team Kogi encountered in Asaba said the contingent would improve on its performance at the next edition.

The Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Sport and Youth Development declined to comment, as he said he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the Commissioner of Sports.

Efforts to speak to the Commissioner proved abortive but an insider confided in our reporter that Kogi State’s poor performance was caused by paucity of funds.

He stated that inadequate funding affected their preparations before and during the festival.

“You cannot expect to get the same result with states that prepared adequately for the sports festival. While they trained for several months, Kogi didn’t train for up to three months.

“We also lost athletes of Kogi origin to other states because of lack of funding, encouragement, commitment and late preparation”, he said.

An athlete who craved anonymity said they were not motivated financially, morally and physically during the sports festival.

“Whenever we raise an issue of concern, the officials would take it as a rebellious behaviour. This affected our outing. There was a lack of motivation in all ramifications”, she said.

The Director of Sports in Katsina State, Umar Aliyu Saulawa, also blamed the disparity in performance between southern and northern states on economic, cultural and environmental factors.

“Culturally, we don’t compete in all sports and sometimes you will discover that it is only male athletes that are available. Our female children hardly take part in sports.

Saulawa, however, said the biggest setback for northern states in the sports festival is lack of enough funds to prepare the athletes.

He said while the oil rich states have huge sums of money that they use in poaching athletes from other states, northern states are always going cap in hand for sponsorship.

“For example, you can’t compare a state that enjoys 13 per cent derivation with states up north in terms of the money spent on sports and that definitely reflects on the medals table.

“Some states are rich enough to sponsor an athlete to come from abroad just to participate in the festival and go back immediately after. Some of them also hire athletes from all over the place just to win medals,” he said.

He, therefore, submitted that Katsina State didn’t do well in Asaba because she was one of the biggest victims of poaching.

“Let me tell you that even in this last NSF, a lot of athletes that represented other states were from Katsina state, and we see that as our achievement because we groomed them here from the grassroots before they were taken away. This means in principle, the medals they won belong to us,” he stated.