After the maiden participation at the Winter Olympics; What next?
Winter sport was never a Nigerian thing; this is partly due to the fact that nature has not always been generous enough to give us the enabling conditions for the sport, and whatever excitement winter sport fans may derive from watching athletes show off skills [in the numerous winter sports there are], football gave Nigerians aplenty. Though nature may have not smiled on us but we have been blessed with a passionate quartet- maybe we can afford to call them 'the fantastic four', anyway- that have got a brave heart to bring Nigeria to the limelight at the Winter Olympics. Voila! The green-white-green flag of Nigeria was hoisted in commemoration of the country's participation at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The bigger picture
As the competition came to a close, it behooves to ask: what next? On the part of the quartet, I perceive they will be aspiring to take their career in the winter sport events- bobsleigh and skeleton- they have come to love up another notch. However, the giant stride taken by these ladies should have already served as an eye-opener for Nigeria Olympic Committee. Maybe it's high time someone started thinking up the idea of setting up a Winter Sports Association in Nigeria with the aim of creating a platform for the sports to be practised here. I must confess that, considering the cost of winter sport and the lack of the enabling conditions, this will surely not be a mean feat to embark on- but if a quartet can come up with something notable within the space of two years then how much more a whole nation; it will only take a willing heart to succeed. Moreover, having faux snow or ice tracks constructed in areas of relatively low temperatures within the country will avail Nigerians the opportunity to go into the sport. Another possibility is that, with an association in place, it becomes easier to engage individuals of Nigerian descent who might have picked up an interest in one winter sport or the other. There could be others [like Seun Adigun and co] whose interest in winter sports might have been left out in the cold due to lack of support.
Nigeria's participation at the Winter Olympics should not be a one-off thing; we have to aim to be consistent at it but it will take the concerted efforts of the Ministry of Sports as well as Nigeria Olympic Committee not to allow the foundation that have been laid by our brave heroines to become a wasteland in the years ahead.
Neither gold nor silver they do not have to give us but what- a brave heart and an inspiration to those who love to dare the odds- they had, they did give unto us. Seun Adigun, Akuoma Omeoga, Ngozi Onwumere and Simidele Adeagbo will go down in history [and in the hearts of Nigerians] as the patriots who dared to go where other Nigerians never attempted to tread, and their trail has been impressed upon the snow and sands of Pyeongchang... So, over to you, NOC.