Nigeria Table Tennis Federation scribe, Segun Oguntade opens up...

I n recent years, table tennis has taken the back seat in sports in Nigeria. What is responsible for the downward trend?
What is obvious is that Table Tennis has suffered neglect in our country over the years and that contributed in no small measure to the reason why the game is presently where it is today. It is no secret that football is the most popular amongst all other sports which has continued to enjoy the lion’s share in terms of followership, patronage, sponsorship, funding and the likes. But then, it doesn’t mean we should disregard other sports. We have to emulate the advanced countries that have succeeded in giving due and necessary attention to continual development of other sports alongside football.
Youths are still interested in Table Tennis but they need to be encouraged by making funds available. During the era of athletes like Atanda Musa and Bose Kaffo which you referred to, it was easier to fund table tennis. The exchange rate of the Nigerian currency was strong in those days but now, the reality we all know is that the naira is not as strong as it used to be and that means it now takes lots of money to finance the sport.

One hardly sees the game being played in the streets anymore as it used to be in the past. Would you say people have lost interest in the sport?
Lots of people are still interested in Table Tennis but the era when the game used to be played in the open has since gone. Now the game is played indoors and that has taken the sport away to an extent, from public view. What that led to was that it limited people’s access to the sport and of course, that impacted negatively on the popularity of the sport. This is because table tennis can be influenced by the air-flow in an open environment and to control that, the game has been taken indoors. In other words, table tennis has been taken away from the streets and it is now being played in halls meant especially for that purpose.
In the past, the game was played virtually at all nooks and cranies in the country because the equipments was not too expensive. You’ll recall that some Nigerians, due to the game’s popularity amongst the populace used the opportunity to make extra and regualr income for themselves by setting up tennis boards here and there and they enjoyed good patronage. But now that the sports has gone indoors, how many people can afford to build halls just for the purpose of playing table tennis?

What are the factors militating against the development of Table Tennis in Nigeria?
The major bane of the table tennis development in Nigeria is the lack of adequate funding. The government remains the major financier of the sports but the fact is that the government alone cannot fund the game. It would be of great help if private and corporate bodies show interest and assist the government towards providing funds for the sports. Those funds can then be channelled into providing necessary equipments and giving the players the much needed exposure for them to measure up to international standard. For instance, a single and standard table tennis board costs about N400,000 while a standard racket and rubber (known as bat) costs around N25,000. If you go for ordinary ones, the ‘bounce’ would not be the same.
Funding will also help in the areas of sending the players to play in circuits and protours (playing tours). These are the avenues that would enable a player to garner points which would be used for ranking worldwide and the more a player features in the protours, the more points he garners and the brighter his chances for ranking. Normally, a player should go for at least six protours in a year and you’ll need money to pay for his flights, entry fees, accommodation, feeding and all the rest. The only mandatory tournament we normally participate in is the World Championships which is held only once in a year. When a player participates in that, his ranking tends to shoot up a bit but because there won’t be follow-up participation in subsequent protours, the ranking would drop into insignificant proportion.
So the major challenge table tennis is facing is funding and that’s why we are soliciting for private and corporate organizations to come to the aid of the sport because the government cannot do it alone.

Can you shed more light on the ranking system that you mentioned?
Like I’ve said earlier, ranking has to do with the frequency an athlete takes part in protours. Also, there are several rankings and the most notable include the world rankings, African rankings and national ranking. In the latest national ranking, Aruna Quadri, Segun Toriola and Merotohun Monday are the top-3 in the men’s ranking while Edet Offiong, Ganiyat Ogundele and Funke Oshonaike are the top-3 in the women’s ranking.
What efforts have the Federation made to raise additional funds needed to augment government subvention?
The Federation took steps and made several efforts to lure private and corporate participation in the game. In fact, we severally wrote letters and proposals towards securing sponsorship to aid the development of the sport and the players but nothing has been forthcoming. But we have resolved not to relent and we shall continue to make efforts to attract private and corporate sponsorships for the sports, because without them assisting the government, it would be difficult for the sport to experience any meaningful development.

Who are the Nigerian players billed to represent the country at the forthcoming London Olympics?
Our players did well at the African qualifiers held in Maputo. A country can only present a maximum of four players, 2 men and 2 women, to feature in the singles event at the Olympics. Aruna Quadri and Segun Toriola qualified in the men’s singles while Edem Offiong and Olufunke Oshonaike scaled through in the women’s singles. A country can only have additional players if it qualifies for the ‘team event’ which we are hopeful of qualifying for during the World Championship billed for Dortmund (Germany) in March. We are already preparing for that even if we are not yet certain if the funds would be available. But you must know that it is not automatic that Nigerian players, even after qualifying, would feature at the Olympics!
Why is that so, if I may ask?
It is one thing for our players to qualify for the Olympics and it is another for the Sports Ministry to list table tennis amongst the sports Nigeria would be taking part in. Everything would depend on budget and the funds made available and if the game is not on the priority list, then it means Nigeria would not be taking part in the event at the Olympics.

What role is the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) playing in this?
He that pays the piper dictates the tune. Table tennis is a sports under the NOC but there is little they can do if the government through the Sports Ministry doesn’t provide the funds needed for the athletes to compete in the event at the Olympics. But if private and corportate bodies show interest and express their readiness to sponsor the athletes, then we won’t have situations where lack of funds would deny an athlete that qualifies for such major event from going on to participate. Government alone cannot fund sports, table tennis inclusive.
Your final comments.
Well, I would like to once again appeal to wealthy and sports loving Nigerians and corporate organizations too to assist in funding table tennis and sponsoring our athletes so that the sport would not die. Government is doing their best but they can’t do it alone.
Thanks for speaking to Complete Sports Saturday.
It’s my pleasure.

Death claimed one of Nigeria’s foremost table tennis star, Yomi Bankole recently. What is the NTTF doing to assist the deceased family?
Yomi Bankole’s death came as a shock and it was very painful. He was a national hero who gave his all playing table tennis for club and country and his achievements will forever be remembered. The NTTF is not abandoning his family and we have put logistics in place towards giving him a beffiting burial. May his soul rest in peace.