London 2012: Where is Innocent Egbunike?

In nations of the world who understand the implications of unveiling their national team coaches, no matter the sports discipline, it is appreciated that such moves are not usually for only commercial purposes only but it is always a gambit to sell the event to marketers and sponsors.

That is why teams who know the value involved are always actively celebrating the players they are buying. It is also a media of securing the fans base of teams when the players or coaches would have been hyped and celebrated to the high heavens as if nothing else matters in the team or sport.

It is always a bigger deal when it is with successful athletes, coaches or federations. Nigeria had in football had it done severally in the national team level when we had to celebrate such coaches like Amodu Shaibu (MON), Samson Siasia, Stephen Keshi if the list is just the indigenous coaches.

A situation where we have a world celebrity like Innocent Egbunike whose record is not only gargantuan but intimidating by the record of athletes he has produced. Some people seem to be playing politics with his appointment as head coach of the Nigerian national team.

The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) boss, Solomon Ogba, last week re-announced the fact that he is the head of a consortium of people they called coaches. Of the list of 12 persons mentioned, only Tony Osheiku is really a coach.

The question on the lips of Nigerians is, why did the AFN not make him available for the commercial values? Since his ‘appointment’ which we gathered, he was not consulted at all, how far this is true remains to be confirmed.in all, where is the coach? Time is not our friend in this game of wits being played by the AFN.

Egbunike served as 2008 head, Track & Field coach for Nigeria in the Beijing Olympics in China. He has also served as coach in the Nigerian Track & Field contingents in 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, with the accomplishment of a gold medal for the 4x400 relay team. The first in the history of the country.

Egbunike has coached over 25 Olympians, 15 Olympic medallists, 6 World Championship medallists and 9 current and past national record-holders. No human being in Nigeria has ever done this.

As an athlete, he was a former sprinter from who won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 400 meters relay in the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. He finished sixth in the final of the individual 400 metres contest. Four years later in Seoul he placed fifth. In addition he won a silver medal in the 400 metres at the 1987 World championship.

He also won the gold medal in the 200 metres at the 1983 Summer Universiade with a personal best of 20.42 seconds; he followed this by finishing 6th in a world class field in the 200 metre final at the 1983 World Championship in Helsinki. He also won the Soviet 100 metres in 1983.
His Azusa Pacific University school record at 400 metres stands;

Two years later at the 1985 Summer Universiade he won the 400 metres. At the regional level he won the 1987 All Africa Games as well as three gold medals at the African Championships.

As a coach, some of the list of his top athletes he has managed include Angelo Taylor, the gold medalist in the 400m hurdles at the 2008 Olympics; Chris Brown, the fourth-place finisher in the 400m at the 2008 Olympic Games; Davidson Ezinwa with his record 9.91seconds in the 100m; Tyree Washington with the celebrated 20.09 in 200m; The Kenyan, Solomon Wariso with the record 44.67 seconds in 400m, Mikey Grimes who clocked 10.00 seconds in 100m in 2007. He was the Nigerian track and field team coach at the 1996, 2000 and 2008 Olympics.