Nigerian star defends Games cost

Ogunkoya is one of the best athletes to come from Nigeria

Former Nigerian athletics star Falilat Ogunkoya has defended the staging of the All Africa Games in her home country after strong criticism levelled at its cost.

Critics of the Games - among them the World Bank - have questioned the $300m the country has spent on the Games, which is more than the country's health and education budgets combined.

But Ogunkoya - a bronze medallist at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta - said the Games were a showcase for Nigeria that would boost the country's profile immensely.

"All the African people are coming to Nigeria, so we really want to show them that we are the giant of Africa," Ogunkoya told BBC World Service's Africa Live! programme.

"A lot of people are seeing a bad image of Nigeria - I think this will be a good boost for Nigeria."

Criticisms

Ogunkoya added that the money the Games brought it could then be added to existing funds for welfare services.

"We can then put money into school and hospitals," she stressed.

"I think that there's a lot of money left for that."

Some of the expense of the Games has been criticised for being excessively lavish in a country that has some of the world's poorest people.

The athlete's village includes 600 apartments, volleyball court, basketball court, church, bank and supermarket.

Nigeria is a country that has faced a whole lot of problems - including ethnic and religious conflicts - so for the country to organise the All Africa Games is no waste at all Sebiyam Dawuni Joel, Ghana White elephant or wise investment?

But Amos Adamu, chief executive of the Games, refuted the concerns.

"These Games are big - a project like this is at a cost," he said.

And he dismissed the World Bank's comparison with the country's health and education budget.

"That is not a reasonable comparison," he said.

"If you look at sport, games are for the youth, they improve health - and if you are embracing sport you are investing in youth.

"Any government that invests in youth is investing in the future of the nation."

He added that he felt the Games had brought a number of benefits that would last into the future.

"From the construction industry perspective, if you see the number of people that worked to put this facility in place, we have a lot of technical officials that are now empowered," he said.

"Then there is the legacy of leaving this new structure there. Abuja is a new city, and whether you do these Games or not it is expected that we are going to have a stadium.

"So doing it now I think is for the best."

Booing

But journalist Sopuine Jaja of River State Television said he agreed with the World Bank's perspective.

"I think the money has been spent very wrongly," he told Africa Live!

"In my area, the Niger delta, we have no roads - the country at this point in time has no roads.

"We are supposed to be thinking of how we can develop the country."

He added that booing of the Nigerian Vice-President by fans in the stadium during medal presentations was an indication of the unhappiness in the country.

"A lot of booing coming from the grandstands out here in Abuja tells you how the people feel about the money spent on these games," he argued.

"I think the government will have to restructure its funding and look at how the price here affects Nigeria.

"What we need here is to try to provide the basic facilities, which is roads, schools, electricity.

"It tells you that the money has not been properly spent."