Tokyo 2020: Nigerians Slam Ex-Minister, Dalung For Team Nigeria’s Failure

IKPO IGBINOBA 

Former Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung has been rated as the worst minister, Nigeria ever had.

Dalung incurred the wrath of Nigerians for blaming the current Sports Minister Sunday Dare for Nigeria’s poor showing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

A cross section of Nigerians who spoke to P.M. EXPRESS said it was the former minister that should be held responsible for the failure in the Tokyo Olympics.

Joseph Jegede said Dalung destroyed Nigeria Sports through the federation elections of 2017 which he supervised.

“I am shocked to my marrow that Solomon Dalung could muster enough courage to voice his opinion on Nigeria Sports.

“After the damage he did through the National Sports Federation elections of 2017, I expected Dalung to be quiet but he wouldn’t”, an angry Jegede said.

Jegede who runs a football academy in Lagos said apart from the string of failures recorded by Nigeria in international engagements including the Rio 2016 Olympics, Dalung conducted the worst federation elections  in history.

According to him “The 2017  federations election was a national disgrace. Ministry officials openly rigged federation slots to the highest bidder. 

“At the end of the exercise, a regime of incompetent administrators was imposed on Nigeria sports. 

“Those administrators caused the crises that have bedevilled our sports in the last four years and the fiasco in Tokyo”.

A judo enthusiast, Robert Angwe said the former minister should apologise to Nigerians for laying the foundation for all that happened in the Tokyo Olympics.

“Instead of blaming his successor, Dalung should swallow his pride and apologise to Nigerians”.

Robert said Dalung unconventional style of administration reduced Nigeria Sports to the butt of jokes.

“Dalung knows that he is the worst sports minister ever. He ended his tenure with the massively compromised federation elections which took our sports sector back by several decades”.

Expressing similar sentiments as  the previous interviewees, Ugo Ikenna, a budding boxer said in civilised climes Dalung won’t be granted a platform to air his views about sports.

“For the damage he did to sports during his time, the former minister should have been blacklisted by the media.

“Unfortunately, Dalung is all over the place blaming others for his failure”.

Ugo said it was the incompetent crop of administrators that emerged from Dalung’s elections in 2017 that has ruined sports.

The boxer added “For the first time in our nation’s history, we didn’t qualify for boxing in the Olympics. Dalung laid the foundation in 2017 with the charade of an election.”

Ugo said the minister Sunday Dare was partly responsible for the Tokyo Olympics flop. 

“He, the present minister had enough time to fix the broken pieces but he didn’t. He should take part of the blame.”

“However” the boxer continued ” he has a golden opportunity to relaunch our sports in the forthcoming federation elections.

“He should ensure that the elections are credible, free and fair unlike what happened four years ago”.

“He will write his name in gold and won’t be in the league of Dalung who is now being haunted by his past”.