Team Nigeria will be at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland with an aim to finish better on the medals table them their run as Africa’s top contingent that was achieved at Birmingham 2022.
Sports247 recalls that Nigeria soared high at the Games four years ago on English soil, as the contingent finished as the highest-ranked African nation with a total of 35 medals – 12 gold, nine silver and 14 bronze.
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The prospects look better this year, considering that Team Nigeria will compete for ten sporting events with a total of 74 athletes contesting for laurels from July 23rd to August 2nd on Scottish soil, north of Birmingham.
The contingent will depart Nigeria on Friday for Aberdeen, Scotland, where the athletes will undergo a three-week pre-competition intensive training camp before moving across the hinterland to their base in Glasgow.
Ahead of Friday’s departure, the contingent had an official sendforth at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, where the athletes and officials were charged to sustain courage, discipline and resilient spirit that have become synonymous with Nigeria on the global sporting stage.
The charge, which was provided on behalf of Presidnet Ahmed Bola Tinubu by his chief of staff, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, is seen as a major motivation that will spur the athletes towards excellent reults in Glasgow.
While reacting to the development, National Sports Commission (NSC) chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko reckoned that the athletes have every reason to excel in Glasgow, especially as they have also received adequate preparations for the Games.
Dikko added that the successful arrangement of early preparations for the contingent was an outcome of long-term planning by all sectors of Nigeria’s sporting community rather than a last-minute rush.
While projecting the prospects of 16 to 20 gold medals for Team Nigeria, Dikko asserted: “This is a clear demonstration of timely preparation. We have been preparing well ahead of the Games.
“(We have done everything needed) from talent scouting to where we are. Now, we are taking the team 20 days ahead of the competition to allow them acclimatise to the environment and maximise their performance.”
NSC’s director-general, Honourable Bukola Olopade added that the commission’s projections were backed by deliberate execution, then issued a stern warning to athletes over discipline, affirming that no one would be spared regardless of profile.
“This is where we draw the line. No matter how big an athlete is, once he or she misbehaves, such a person will be expelled. If you spread negative narratives on social media, you will be expelled,” Olopade concluded.
