THE Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, has apologised to Nigerians over the poor performance of the nation’s athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics ending today.

Enoh, on Sunday, August 11, said Nigeria’s performance should have been better than the poor outing recorded.

“The Olympic Games, Paris 2024, have ended, and I accept that our performance should have been a lot better. It obviously fell short of our objectives, expectations, and hopes of Nigerians.

“I must apologise to our compatriots and reflect on what went wrong while looking forward to the Paralympic Games, Paris 2024 (August 28–September 8th),” he said.

The minister stated that upon assuming office, he was met with the tasks of executing four international competitions namely the AFCON, the African Games, the Olympic, and the Paralympic Games and needed sufficient time to prepare.

“I was also reminded that the Olympic Games is the world’s supreme sports competition, and countries require at least four years to prepare for it.

“I held extensive discussions with the management staff of the Ministry and got to know that preparations for the Olympics, which was less than a year away, had not started.

“In the true Nigerian spirit, it was our view that we should spare no effort to sustain the international sports image of our country,” he stated.

He further added that he had put the necessary measures in place to support the athletes and the coaches, adding that President Bola Tinubu had approved the funds needed to ensure a hitch-free outing.

The minister noted that despite all the efforts made, the Nigerian team underperformed, stressing that he owed Nigerians an explanation. He said that lessons had been learnt and urged the citizens to turn the disastrous outcome of the 2024 Olympics into opportunities to strengthen the nation’s sports.

The President had approved N12 billion naira for the country’s outing at the Olympics and the Paralympics. However, Nigeria finished without a medal at the Olympics where it paraded 88 athletes.

The ICIR reported that a Nigerian cyclist, Ese Ukpeseraye got stranded and had no bike to use for the scheduled keirin and sprint events but was saved by a German cycling team.

This incident caused an uproar on social media by Nigerians who claimed that the Tinubu-led government only dented the nation’s image at the Olympic games..