Nigerian singer Seun Kuti has chastised the Nigerian government for failing to invest in sports, noting the country’s dismal performance in the previous Olympics.
In a video posted to his Instagram account, the controversial artist declared that during the 2024 Olympics, Nigeria only competed in low-cost sports while disregarding more expensive ones.
“I dey watch 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, like, It was the sports that needed minimum investment that we did.”
He argued that Nigerian athletes competed in track and field events because running is inexpensive and simple to do. However, Nigeria was absent from sports that required additional equipment.
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“You know, to play football, you need a post and net and other things are added, in some places, boys would use slippers to create a goalpost. But in sports that need things like rackets, nets, basketball courts and rims, where you can’t easily improvise, we weren’t there. We competed in track and field events because it’s easy to do running. But in sports that need equipment, we are never there,” said Kuti.
“Nigerians are unable to enjoy the talents of their children, all our big superstars. Which other shows do they play in Nigeria? I was watching the Olympics and I saw people with Nigerian-sounding names doing incredible things for other countries. If Simone Biles can be that great, imagine how many young girls with talent that are wasting away because people will not invest in gymnastics and train our children,” he asserted.
