One great athlete inspires a generation. The formula is simple. It is adopted by many advanced countries in the world. It is neither sacrosanct nor foolproof. Most times it works and usually that’s enough for it to become a tradition – retired great athletes always succeed in breeding more of their kind. That’s why most trainers and coaches are usually drawn from the ‘school’ of retired great athletes. Retired great athletes inspire the development of more of their kind. Indeed, one great athlete could inspire a whole generation. Take the example of Jay Jay Okocha. The effect of his spectacular performances continues to influence the ‘birth’ in every nook and cranny, from Ajegunle to Ketu, of a whole generation of others who see him as the example they can follow. The army of young aspiring talented footballers continues to grow.

You can imagine what would happen were Jay Jay to become a coach of any team. The players would look to his every word like scripture from the bible. Not only would they believe everything he says, they would do everything he directs them. His solid credentials and background as a great football player would inspire the players to no small end. Jay Jay would not have to prove himself to anyone. That’s why it is easier to make one that had played the game before and done very well coach.

The message is therefore very simple – Let us get the best athletes from the past and make them coaches. It would thus be a case of a Chioma Ajunwa inspiring a whole new generation of female long jumpers in the country; Falilat Ogunkoya doing what she has started to do already by inspiring young female runners in the 400 metres race; Samuel Peters to do the same thing in boxing; Henry Nwosu to head Nigeria’s under-17 national team; Nduka Odizor to take Nigerian tennis and breed new champions; and so on and so forth.