Nigeria has a population of over 120 million people and is the gene pool of the greatest black athletes in the world. The country ought to be a dominant force in the world of sports. Unfortunately, Nigeria has performed poorly in the Olympic Games and other international competitions in recent years. The problem is that Nigeria has failed over the years to develop and implement programs designed specifically to discover talented athletes at a young age and groom them into international stars. The only way for Nigeria to guarantee the production of world champion athletes on a continuous basis is to implement a well articulated national sports development program that requires the mass participation of youths at the primary and secondary school levels throughout Nigeria.
This proposal is a two phased master plan for the resuscitation of sports at the grassroots level in Nigeria. Phase one is the annual Junior Olympic Games whose purpose at the Primary School level, is to identify talent at an early age and develop training programs that will enable them to improve progressively through their primary school years. At the Secondary School level the purpose is to identify and train the young athletes in a controlled and closely monitored environment (boarding house) so that they can perfect their skills, improve their performances and prepare for international Junior and possibly senior competitions, including the Olympic Games. The competitions are organized in four different age categories - the Junior Primary, Senior Primary, the Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary. Numerous incentives and benefits such as a secondary school scholarship, a university scholarship at home or overseas, training grants for star athletes are guaranteed for youths that decide to dedicate themselves to the cause of becoming international champions for Nigeria. This program will provide meaningful engagement, necessary distraction and a source of hope for Nigeria’s restive youths. The benefits of this program will be immense for the youths, parents, ruling government, and Nigerians everywhere.
During the first edition of the Games, competition will be limited to a few sports. In subsequent years, more sports will be added as the need arises. The competitions will progress from Intra School Competition, to Local Government Championships, to State Championships, to Zonal Championships and on to the National Junior Olympic Games. Over 9900 athletes and officials are expected to take part in the National Junior Olympic Games in Abuja. Government and the private sector are expected to fund the Games. We believe that the Legislature, President and Vice President, State Governors, and the Minister for sports should spearhead the effort to raise funds through the private sector for organizing the Games and implementing the second phase of this project. Their involvement adds credibility to the effort and allows the money to be raised quickly for implementing the activities as planned.
The purpose of the series of competitions leading to the Junior Olympic Games is to discover talent at a very young age. Once the athletes are discovered, then phase II begins. The “real work” here is that of transforming these young athletes into international stars within 8 – 10 years of their discovery. The best athletes from every sport and events will be awarded scholarships and distributed to selected secondary schools with boarding facilities across the country. The scholarship will cover room and board, tuition, pocket money, books, transport money, training kits and incidentals. At these schools, coaches will expose them to specially designed training programs in their events or sport. In addition to their athletic progress, they will be expected to maintain a minimum level of academic performance in order to keep their scholarship from year to year.