Segun Odegbami Heads to 'Court', Moves to Compel Government to Cater for Nigerian Sports Heroes

Olufemi Orunsola 

Seasoned veteran sportsman and broadcast journalist, Dr.Olusegun Odegbami, has taken the Nigerian government to the court of public opinion over what he described as failure of government to take responsibility for the welfare of retired sports heroes in the country 

OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports that Dr.Odegbami who is popularly known as Mathematical 7 made this move over the weekend as he shifted the focus of discussion on his popular multi-streamed radio show ‘90 minutes with Mathematical’ broadcast on the network of Eagle 7 Sports Radio featuring two prominent guests - a lawyer and a medical expert.

Odegbami admitted that his intention for floating the episode of the Radio show was to to put Medicine, the Federal and State Governments on the dock! 

Chief Odegbami ovserved with utter disappointment that, "The Federal and State governments do NOT do anything about retired sports heroes…as there is no law compelling them to do so."

He therefore affirmed that, he was in his own way, making a case for Nigerian government to take responsibility for the welfbeing of the country’s Sports heroes.

In his words, "I am heading, therefore, to the courts to put ‘Medicine’ on the dock." adding that, "If I can prove, with the contributions of medical experts and practitioners, that the health conditions of retired sports heroes can be linked directly to the ‘torturous’ training and competitions that their bodies endure whilst representing the country in international competitions, the law can compel governments to accept responsibility and statutorily start to take care of international athletes after their careers? "

Odegbami noted that "The relationship between sport and medicine is umbilical, they go together inseparably. Yet when it comes to the matter of retired athletes, medicine abandons them to their fate." 

 Putting Medicine on the dock of public opinion, the veteran broadcast journalist shared the entire 90 minutes of the show with a medical doctor and a lawyer, analyzing and connecting the dots of responsibility. 

A foremost sports medicine practitioner and consultant, Dr. Akin Amao, and a lawyer who both joined him in the conversation that lasted between 7:30 am and 9 am on Saturday morning, ventilated the opinion that to a very significant degree, the Nigerian government at the Federal and state levels should do a whole lot more to cater for her retired Sports heroes.

OTN News reports that the Exclusive Radio show was broadcast on Eagle7 Sports Radio 103.7 FM and simultaneously shared on several social media platforms including

www.youtube.com/@eagle7fm

Direct Media player: 

https://eagle7fm.com

Facebook : www.facebook.com/eagle7fm1037

Twitter: @eagle7fm1037

Online radio directories.. 

https://mytuner-radio.com/radio/eagle7-1037-fm-sports-radio-487313/ 

https://www.getmeradio.com/eagle7fm-5448/?station_id=5448 as well as on http://streema.com/radios/play/Eagle7_103.7_FM 

https://liveonlineradio.net/eagle7-1037-fm 

https://radio.streamitter.com/station/eagle7-1037-fm-sports-radio-XC6AB