“Naija no dey carry last’”
is a popular idiom we Nigerians like to use to describe our ‘can do’ spirit. Unfortunately that didn’t sound so true for the Nigerian contingent of athletes to the just concluded Athletics World Championships who failed to win a single medal. But there was one Nigerian albeit a British-Nigerian for whom this was very true. Two of Britain’s Women’s 4×100 relay team who won bronze medals are under Ayodeji Akande’s sports management team. And he has many sportsmen and sportswomen involved in other sports as clients too – ranging from swimming to gymnastics to taekwondo. Even a casual observer would have noticed that there were far more Nigerians representing other countries at the Championships than those representing Nigeria. Gone are the days when we may just see one or two representing the USA and the UK. At these Championships we saw Nigerians representing Team Ireland, Team Italy, Team Bahrain and Team Germany. But why should one be surprised? They will represent countries that are willing to sponsor their chosen career and provide them with the best chance of success. One has always thought that it would be good if some of our high networth individuals and corporate bodies could take up this responsibility as there is nothing that evokes that guttural sense of patriotism quite as much as when one’s countryman succeeds in international sports. The euphoria of Tobi Amusan breaking the world record for the women’s 100m hurdles is yet to fully abate. We don’t need to wait for them to first succeed before then adopting them as brand ambassadors. There is something that appears a little opportunistic in that. But heck! What do we know? Sports is big business and the sooner we come to that realisation in Nigeria, the better. Well, Ayodeji certainly knows that so lets hear his inspiring story.
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