Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Jim Nwobodo, and Dutch coach Johannes “Bonfrère” Jo have given conflicting accounts over the rewards promised to the coach and the alleged disappearance of his Olympic gold medal, three decades after Nigeria’s historic football triumph at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Nwobodo, who served as Sports Minister under the late General Sani Abacha, was in office when Nigeria’s Dream Team defeated Argentina 3-2 in the men’s football final on August 3, 1996, becoming the first African nation to win Olympic football gold.
Bonfrère, who guided the team to the historic victory, recently expressed disappointment that the Nigerian government had failed to properly recognise or reward him for the achievement. He also alleged that the gold medal presented to him after the final was taken from him while he was with the team.
However, Nwobodo rejected the claims, insisting that the Abacha administration fulfilled its promises to the players and coaching crew, including the allocation of plots of land.
“After beating Argentina in that historical final, Abacha fulfilled the promise. If there was any delay, it must have been from the civil service,” Nwobodo told The PUNCH.
He added: “Abacha said they should be given lands anywhere they wanted and they were all given, including the coach, Bonfrere Jo. That was the golden era of our football and it was called the Dream Team.”
Nwobodo also said he was unaware of any complaint from the Dutch coach during his time in office.
“Not when I was there. Nobody would have done that if I knew. I couldn’t have allowed it. It was a golden period of our football, and how can I allow somebody who made it possible to be cheated? Something must be wrong,” he said.
According to the former minister, Bonfrère never informed him that he had not received the promised reward or that his Olympic medal had gone missing.
“He did not complain. If he had, I would have solved it. If Bonfrere Jo had complained to me about the fact that they refused to give him his promise, I would have acted fast,” he said.
On the missing medal, Nwobodo said: “I didn’t know about his medal either. How can someone take his medal and I would keep quiet? I would not do that. If I knew, I would have acted immediately. He never told me.”
Bonfrère, however, maintained that he made several unsuccessful attempts to seek government intervention.
“I have phoned and written to government people and I have been to the Government House two or three times with some other chief, but he didn’t have time to see me,” he said.
“I was there two times in one day at the Government House. I have done many things to contact somebody but didn’t get any reply. And he knows. He was one of the officials who stopped me from going up with my players.”
Former Super Eagles defender Taribo West, a member of the gold medal-winning squad, had also alleged in a 2023 interview that the plot of land allocated to Bonfrère in Lekki Phase 3 was taken over by others.
“The Bonfrere land gift in Lekki Phase 3 was hijacked, and as I speak with you, we are still struggling to make sure the land is given back to him,” Taribo said.
He added: “It is only in Nigeria that you labour for something but you won’t be allowed to enjoy the fruits. We have nothing to show for the tournaments we went to; the only thing we get is criticisms in the media.”