Nigeria Olympic Committee turn to navy to boost "One Service, One Medal" project

By Nick Butler

Nigeria's aim to work with the armed forces in order to improve their sporting fortunes on the road to Rio 2016 has received another boost after a pledge of support from the chief of Naval Staff, vice-admiral Usman Jubril.

After announcing in June that they would take advantage of the military and paramilitary forces' facilities and expertise in sports which provide multiple medal opportunities in the Olympics, Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) President Engr Sani Ndanusa then appealed for even greater collaboration.

As part of the "One Service, One Medal" project, this will involve hunting for potential medal winners from within the armed forces.

Speaking in the capital Abuja, alongside Ndanusa during his honorary investiture as a patron of the project, Jubril claimed the Navy will support the NOC to improve the quality of athletes that represent Nigeria in future international sports events.

In particular, he said they will target gifted athletes in future recruitment so as to contribute in the development of potential champions, while they will also continue to sponsor and promote aquatic sports, an environment unsurprisingly described as "familiar to the Navy".

Admiral Jubril noted that the first medal to be won by a Nigerian in the Olympics Games was by a Navy personnel, light middleweight boxer Nojim Maiyegun, who secured a historic bronze at Tokyo 1964.

President Ndanusa added the initiative was set up to partner relevant agencies, to organise standardised sports competitions where potential medal winners may emerge.

"We want to challenge each service to produce one medal whatever category so that we can get 16 medals," he said.

Blessing Okagbare was the outstanding Nigerian athlete of Glasgow 2014, after securing a golden sprinting double ©Getty Images

Nigeria has been one of the strongest sporting nations in Africa over recent decades, winning 19 medals across the five Games between Barcelona 1992 and Beijing 2008, including three gold medals in the sports of athletics and football.

But the nation drew a complete blank at London 2012, despite sending a seemingly strong squad of 53 athletes in eight sports.

Afterwards President Goodluck Jonathan called for a "complete overhaul of Nigerian sports administration".

Improvement seemed to have been made at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where Nigeria finished eighth of the medals table with 36 medals, including 11 gold in athletics, weightlifting, powerlifting and wrestling.

The highlight was provided Blessing Okagbare, winner of the 100 and 200 metres.

But not every aspect of Glasgow 2014 was positive for Nigeria, with 16-year-old weightlifter Chika Amalaha being stripped of her under 53 kilogram title after failing a doping test.

The collaboration with the armed forces comes as the military are currently engulfed in a struggle against Islamist separatist group Boko Haram.

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