The Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, has confirmed that the Nigerian government spent over N8 billion to participate in the Paris Olympics 2024, where Team Nigeria returned without any medals.
Speaking during an interview on Channels TV on Wednesday, Mr Enoh said the Nigerian athletes commenced preparation for the global tournament late.
Mr Enoh confirmed that the ministry received a total of N12 billion for both the Paralympics and the Olympics..
“You know why this clime is different, I need to explain that N12 billion was not only for the Olympics. It was for the Olympics and Paralympics.
“Paralympics starts on August 28 to September 8. So, the N12 billion is not just for the Olympics. For the Olympics, it was 8-point-something billion (over N8 billion), and for the Paralympics, it was about 3-point-something billion [over N3 billion].
“The Olympics and sporting activities are international matters, and you talk about them in the dollar equivalent.
“I am not saying that N12 billion is not a huge sum, but I’m also calling attention to the fact that N12 billion in 2024 and N2 billion in 2020, imagine the journey of the Nigerian naira.”
Asked if he meant that the over N8 billion was insufficient, he said, “I’m not going to say it was insufficient because we did a budget which amounted to that and it was provided. I got exactly what I wanted. That is what we budgeted for and we got it.
“But in the last couple of months, even before the Olympics, I have been very vocal in talking about the fact that as a country, what I found us doing in sports is that we fund competitions. We do not fund the training and the preparations for the competitions.”
On the preparations, Mr Enoh said countries use four years to prepare for the Olympics, but he met nothing on the ground when he assumed office in August.
“I met nothing on ground about the Olympics. It had to take my initiative to summon the Nigerian Olympics Committee to a meeting to find out from them,” what was needed.
