Economists often talk of comparative advantage. In the layman’s language, this simply translates to putting one’s best foot forward. But Nigeria does not seem to have put her best foot forward in the on-going Commonwealth Games in Australia.
How else does one consider the fact that a potential medalist in the person of Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor will not compete in the usual 100m and 200m races where she commands great respect?
For the avoidance of doubt, Blessing is featuring in Team Nigeria, but she opted to compete in only one relay race. To go down memory lane -Blessing recently smashed the 22.07 seconds African 200m record set by Mary Onyali in 1996. She also had a wonderful performance in the 100m at a recent meet in Texas, US. She had unwittingly raised the hopes of her compatriots for another successful sprints double, when she defends her Commonwealth Games titles in Australia.
So, why will the lady not flaunt her prowess on the Commonwealth stage in Australia? What happened? An official of Team Nigeria, simply says that Blessing is not happy with the way the federal government abandoned her to her faith the last time she had a major injury. If that is true, it seems like a case of once bitten, twice shy.
But News in Africa Online gathers that efforts are being made to get the lady to change her mind on the matter before athletics events commence on April 9.
We hear that apart from the anxiety Blessing’s decision is causing Team Nigeria’s camp, the organizers of the Commonwealth Games in Australia will be quite unhappy if the Sprints queen does not defend the titles she won at the last Games.
