Ezeonwuka stated this while reacting to the just concluded Tokyo Olympics where Nigeria won one silver medal and one bronze medal.

Blessing Oburududu won silver for Nigeria in the wrestling event while Ese Brume  got bronze after leaping 6.97m in the long jump event.

Ezeownuka said while most sports enthusiasts were celebrating the feat, as Nigeria’s best after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he was not satisfied because as the giant of Africa, Nigeria should have done better.

He said as a foremost private investor in  sports facilities, he was pained that administrators had neglected his ‘Olympics model’ stadium which was capable of producing world champions, if properly utilised.

He urged sports administrators to exploit the opportunities at Rojenny stadium by using it as a closed camp for the training of athletes for the next Olympics, saying that the outcome would not be less than 10 gold medals.

“I don’t understand why Nigerians are celebrating a silver and a bronze when smaller countries packed a good number of gold home.

“We are more than that, we don’t prepare well, the Olympics is a four-year event, you don’t manufacture world champions overnight.

“The Ministry of Sports and sports federations should come and use Rojenny to train their athletes, that is why I built this place about 38 years ago.

“If you bring 100 athletes here and prepare them in training and diet for France 2024, if at the end of the day, Nigeria does not win 10 gold medals, hold me responsible,” he said.

Ezeonwuka recalled how the youthful Fanny Amun Golden Eaglets, trained at Rojenny stadium for more than two years before going to Japan to win the U-17 world cup.

He said he was willing to go into partnership with government and corporate firms to optimise the use of the facility for the overall interest of Nigerian youths, especially athletes.

“Rojenny is the first and biggest privately owned sports facility in Nigeria today, it is an Olympic stadium because we don’t just have a football pitch here, we have facilities for almost every Olympics sports Nigeria participates in.

“I built it in 1983 because of the vision I have for development of youths in the South East and Nigeria, up till today most state governments don’t have it, but I have operated and maintained it as a private citizen.

” I am willing to work with the Ministry of Sports and Sports Federations to see how we can use this to provide more opportunities for our future generations,” he said.

NAN