Golf, not athletics, key to Nigeria’s Olympics dream, says Bindawa

Bindawa, a former member of the Nigeria Golf Federation (NGF), said the country would continue to flounder if it continued to devote most of its resources to football and athletics while ignoring golf, a sport that “can fetch the country over 10 gold medals in Olympics.” Bindawa, a former defence attaché to the Nigerian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan said: “They say golf has its own federation but I can’t see it.

A situation where golf, which is being played by over three million Nigerians, is completely ignored, is unacceptable.” Also speaking on Nigeria’s attitude to golf, NGF Caretaker Committee Chairman, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, said, although he would not want to be joined in confrontation with anyone, “the total neglect of golf is rather unfortunate.” To enable commenting and other interactive features, please switch to the more advanced.

“As at the last time I had a look at that body called Nigeria Golf Federation, I noticed clearly that it was the federation’s former president and currently Caretaker Committee Chairman, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, that has been spending his personal money to keep the federation’s secretariat running.

After Team Nigeria’s poor outing at the just concluded Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Bindawa, along with some of the country’s golf icons, believes the time has come for the country to rethink its priorities.

Examining Nigeria’s recurring poor outings at major international competitions, including the Olympic Games, where the country has failed to rise up to the hype about its abundant human resources, Bindawa believes the time has come for the nation to look for answers elsewhere.

“What I cannot even understand is that rather than the government giving to golf, which is the next big thing in the world, funds are mostly devoted to football and athletics..

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