The Nigerian government has come under fire from well-known artist Seun Kuti for failing to support sports.
Seun responded to team Nigeria’s dismal showing in the recently concluded 2024 Olympics in Paris in a social media video that went viral.
The musician disclosed that Nigeria only took part in non-investment-requiring sports when promoting the 2024 Olympics.
“I watched the Olympic games. look at how poorly we performed. How many sports are we competing in? I saw that it was only sports that did not need investment that Nigerians participated in. We only did sports that needed minimum investment.
“You know, to play football, you need a ball, post and net and in some places, boys would use slippers to create a goalpost. But in sports that need things like rackets, basketball courts, rims and nets where you can’t easily improvise, we weren’t there. We competed in track and field events because it is easy to do running. But we are never in sports that need equipment.
“Nigerians know all these sports and bet on them so how much would it take to create a good league and gift the winners 25 million dollars? Let there be a minimum of a million dollars per year, after all, this is what boys are earning in Europe.
“Nigerians are unable to enjoy their children’s talents, all our big superstars. Which other shows do they play in Nigeria? I was watching the Olympics and I saw a lot of people with Nigerian sounding names doing incredible things for other countries. If Simone Biles can be that great, imagine how many talents that are wasting away because people will not invest in gymnastics and train our children.”
