Danladi Bako Slams Nigeria’s Athletic Investment As Botswana Shines At Tokyo Championships

Former Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and esteemed journalist, Dr Danladi Bako, has voiced his disappointment with Nigeria’s show successful the conscionable concluded 2025 World Athletics Championships successful Tokyo, portion praising Botswana for its awesome achievements.

The Tokyo games, which showcased an array of diversion endowment implicit 9 days, saw the planetary athletics assemblage observe record-breaking performances and emerging champions. Bako remarked connected the extended committedness required from athletes, who dedicate sizeable time, energy, and fiscal resources to training, often with the assistance of apical coaches and precocious facilities.

He contrasted Nigeria’s constricted enactment for its athletes with the important investments made by different nations. “Many countries prioritise the grooming and payment of their apical athletes done grants, scholarships, and reward systems,” helium observed. “Unfortunately, specified enactment remains scarce successful Nigeria,” highlighting the challenges faced by processing nations, wherever education, health, and poorness often instrumentality precedence.

Bako lauded the unquantifiable benefits of investing successful sports, noting however palmy athletes tin elevate a nation’s planetary lasting and reputation. He cited the United States, which dominated sprints successful the precocious 20th century, and Jamaica, known not lone for its euphony but besides for producing legendary sprinters. Most notably, helium pointed to Botswana, a landlocked state with a smaller colonisation than Lagos State, which achieved singular occurrence by winning golden successful the men’s 4×400 metre relay and securing further medals astatine the Tokyo games.

In contrast, Nigeria lone made its people connected the medals array done Tobi Amusan’s metallic successful the women’s 100 metres and commendable efforts from Ajayi successful the men’s event. Bako reflected connected the humanities successes of Nigerian athletes, who erstwhile thrived successful planetary competitions mostly owed to American assemblage grooming structures. He lamented that existent talents inactive trust connected these systems, receiving minimal enactment from their ain government.

Calling for urgent action, Bako urged Nigerian authorities to follow effectual strategies for diversion success, including establishing a maturation enhancement programme for young athletes identified from nationalist competitions, hiring world-class coaches, and improving facilities. He underscored the value of enthusiastic and originative individuals successful sports federations to crook Nigeria’s fortunes around.

He noted caller affirmative developments, including President Bola Tinubu’s resuscitation of the National Sports Commission and important backing directed towards sports. “We person a listening President who tin reconstruct our mislaid glory successful sports,” Bako asserted, highlighting the urgent request for Nigeria to reclaim its presumption connected the planetary diversion podium.

As the particulate settles connected the Tokyo Championship, the telephone for enhanced sporting frameworks successful Nigeria remains clear, with Bako emphasising that timely investments successful athletics tin pb to some sporting occurrence and a renewed nationalist pride.