Publisher

Long before the emergence of the Covid 19 pandemic, Nigerian judo was already in dire need of oxygen. 

The condition of the martial art, to put it mildly, had been critical and it was already gasping for survival in the intensive care unit.

Yes, Nigerian judo was in the throes of death. 

The tragic judo situation has nothing to do with the Covid 19 scrouge which has held the world hostage for the better part of two years.

The condition was inflicted by a group of people who rigged their way to power all in a bid to use the judo platform to achieve some less than noble objectives. 

They didn’t care a hoot what would befall the sport while they pursued their selfish ambition.

Aided by a massively compromised Sports Ministry, this group emerged from a fraudulent electoral process in May 2017.

They eventually took over the reins of power and for four years directed the destiny of judo.

After running out its term, the board was dissolved by the Sports Ministry last May, preparatory to federation elections scheduled for September.

Those who served on that board know from the depth of their souls that they did more harm than good to the sport of judo.

For those chronicling the history of judo, their era would be referred to as the “Locust Years of Nigerian Judo”.

They took Nigerian judo back into the dark ages.  Without dispute they would go down in history as the worst board since the judo federation came on stream on the eve of the 2nd All Africa Games hosted by Lagos, Nigeria in 1973.

For four years, the board instead of developing judo was involved in different scandals, earning in the process a reputation every Nigerian judoka should be ashamed of.

For now, it won’t be necessary going into the details of those scandals which  caught the attention of embassies, corporate entities, the Sports Ministry and even the International Judo Federation, IJF.  

What should be of paramount importance to all stakeholders for now is how to enthrone a purpose driven and focused leadership that has capacity to relaunch Nigerian judo.

There’s not much stakeholders can do in achieving this goal that would help revive the distressed sport.

The Sports Ministry wields enormous influence and power in determining who wins federation elections.

Ideally, it should not be so, but that is the unfortunate reality in our clime. 

The democratic process enshrined even in the guidelines of the Sports Ministry and statutes of International Federations are set aside during elections to pursue nefarious ambitions.

We are all living witnesses to the 2017 fraud which was supposed to be the federation election. 

The fallout of the scam is with us till today. 

Aside judo that is on life support (there was no election into the NJF but someone declared himself a winner and he was inaugurated as President) some federations have been factionalized.

The present captains of Nigerian sports can conveniently argue that they were not in charge then.

Now, they are in charge. 

They will hopefully superintend the next federations’ elections.

And one message for them is to conduct the elections in line with International Federation statutes and allow the choice of the stakeholders prevail. 

If they can do the right thing with the election, they will not only save Nigerian sports, they would be engraving their names in the hearts of Nigerians and earning a golden chapter in our history. 

No Nigerian wants to remember the gang that destroyed our sports through the fraudulent elections of 2017.