Tobi Amusan probably doesn’t know that she is the face of the new Nigeria that Nigerians desire. She is winning medals, she is packing laurels, she is breaking records, she is setting records, she is scoring firsts, she is flying high but I doubt if Tobi knows that she is the new symbol of hope for the Nigeria dream.

The son of man can stay without food for hours. He may not even know where the next meal is going to come from. He may be in tattered clothes without having a shelter over his head. Man can cope with all these and life will still be going on but when hope is lost, everything is lost. If only Tobi knows that she represents that hope for millions of Nigerians today that Nigeria can be great again.

Tobi has scored many firsts in a row. The firsts are too numerous to count and they are everywhere on the internet but it is remarkable that she is not just breaking existing records, she is consistently beating her own records and she is marching on. This is the best way to compete. If you consistently aim to outperform your best, you will see yourself flying above the altitude of your competitors.

Tobi is not alone in this refreshing moment. The golden girl started the medal rain and many other young Nigerian athletes have latched on her best moments to pack medals both at the world athletics championships and the commonwealth games. If only they know that they are the illumination we need in a country where darkness dares light and truth cringes behind lies. They ended the medal drought. These are the true Nigerian heroes.

Many lessons I picked from Tobi Amusan. I listened to her Jamaican contender as she eulogised her after she set a new world record in 12.06secs. She said Tobi spoke her victory to existence few hours to the event when she put on her social media status, “the incoming world record holder”. She did not just believe it, she did it.

Her world best was 12.06secs in an earlier world athletics championship. Tobi’s best at the commonwealth games was 12.30secs which underperforms her world best but best enough to set another record in any commonwealth game before 2022. Tobi taught me that my competitors have a role in the speed and quality of my success. If my competitors drive me gently, I will save my energy for the best moments and still remain the best.

The icing on the cake was when Tobi led the Nigerian women 4×100 relay team to another record breaking gold medal at the commonwealth games. The men 4×100 relay team coasted home with bronze medal. To me, it’s looking like Nigerian youths are making a statement that they will take their destinies in their hands and renew their hope by themselves. The bird is in their hands, what they do with it is for them to decide.

I have been thinking. Tobi Amusan operates from the University of Texas, USA. How many Tobi Amusans are wasting away in Nigeria who don’t have the opportunity to be showcased to the world? Has anyone noticed that it has been the women leading the medal rain both in Oregon, USA and Birmingham, UK? The womenfolk have been the ones championing the raising of the Nigerian flag and causing the singing of the Nigerian national anthem once again to draw tears from our eyes as we remember the good old days.

These are exciting moments for Nigeria. That it is happening at a time when gloom pervades the atmosphere is one good reason every Nigerian should raise the glass for these Nigerian heroes who have changed the atmosphere with spirit lifting news items and given us another breathe of hope that Nigeria can be great again.

Congratulations to Tobi Amusan, congratulations to all Nigerian athletes to the world athletics championships and commonwealth games 2022. Congratulations Nigeria 🥂

Tobi Amusan started the medal rain. She infected the others with hope and Nigeria is shining again. I call it the Tobi Amusan phenomenon.

©️Akin Oluwadare Jnr
08 August 2022