EMEDOLU MADE METU A CHAMPION

New Fastest Man In Nigeria, little known Obinna Metu chose the biggest stage in Nigerian athletics ,the annual Athletic Federation of Nigeria/ExxonMobil track and field championship to announce his arrival as the new kid on the 100m block .The Anambra state-born sprinter came into the championships as one of the pretenders to the title held by reigning African record holder in the event at 9.85,Olusoji Fasuba.

Nobody,except those who follow the sport religiously remembered him as a bronze medal winner in the 200m event at the last All Africa Games held in Algiers last year.He was also a member of the gold-winning 4x100m relay team at the Games.He ran the second leg in the same team that dropped the baton at the African Championships last May in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia.

But the new fastest man in Nigeria courtesy his surprise win at the just concluded 19th edition of the championships owes his new status to one of his victims in Wednesday evening’s race on the track of the imposing Abuja National Stadium,2002 International Associations of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Cup in Athletics 100m winner,Uchenna Emedolu.
Metu believes Emedolu’s impact on his rise as a school boy to becoming the champions of Nigeria is unquantifiable.

He sees the Agulu,Anambra state-born sprinter as his role model and somebody he wanted to be like.
‘’Emedolu made me a champion. I was always hoping to become like him when I decided to take the sport as my number one career”,began the athlete who was first into football and actually played for a local youth club called Juventus in Enugu.
Metu didn’t have the privileged of having to pick a role model from so many choices because Emedolu was the only one he saw around him while growing up in Enugu.

‘’He-Emedolu-was the closest person to me then and I was thrilled by how humble he was as well as how he was reverred by the people in Enugu whenever he was around.I was jealous of his achievement and his name was projected all over the world.I saw the benefits of being a champion,a hero and it fired me up to become one.I told myself I have to be like him,be as famous as he still is ..be well known all over the world.”,he recounted.

Apart from the massive encouragement he received from his parents,especially his mother who he said used to pray for him,he is convinced Emedolu’s offer of help when he needed it changed his life and his focus.It made him to dream big..dreams of becoming a world beater,a champion just like his idol who later turned to his mentor.
‘’The whole story of Emedolu from being my idol to my mentor changed one day when I surprised him in Enugu during some kind of trials we organized .I ran so well in the trials that I swept him off his feet.He couldn’t believe what he saw and kept asking whether I was the same boy he met some weeks back who was running with his school uniform on.
‘’My coach then told him I was the one and he became immediately interested in me.He called me aside and asked what were my needs.I told him I needed spike shoes,tennis shoes and running vests.He gave me some Fila kits he must have received from the AFN as a national athlete.

couldn’t believe what was happening to me.I thought I was dreaming..me,coming face to face and actually talking to a world champion..somebody I had always looked up to..it was just too much for me to take.To completely sweep me off my feet,I was surprised by his humility and the fact that he could come down to my level.
‘’He gave me some tips on how to run as well as words of encouragement..he brought out the confidence that I had always felt right from my primary school days that I can do it.From there I was determined to succeed like him.I took what he told me with all the seriousness it required and made sure I put all of them into practice”.
Obinna is the last born in a family of eight-three boys and five girls.He hailed from Idemili North local government area of Anambra state where he first had his primary education before relocating to Enugu where he continued with his primary education before moving up to Community Secondary School,Iva Valley in Enugu.
Apart from his interest in football,he was also a high jumper and was drafted to compete in the event in 2000 by the Enugu state sports council at the first Dan Ngerem U-18 Athletics Championships in Owerri and he won the silver without any meaningful form of practice.
He continued to participate in sports and unlike most kids who had their parents screaming down their neck about the futility of becoming an athlete instead of concentrating on academic education,Obinna’s parents gave him all the support he needed.
‘’Although my father is late,my mother and my brothers have always been there for me (two of them actually followed him to Abuja to witness him become Nigerian champion in the 100m).I could remember some occasions when my brothers will pick up my chores so that I could go to training.
‘’I wish all parents and all households are like that.Parents should always let their children be what they want to be.What they need to do is to encourage them,correct them when they go wrong and praise them when they do the right thing”.
He also appeals to state sports commissioners to emulate the immediate past sports commissioner in Delta state,Solomon Ogba who he said offered him employment when Enugu state was playing politics with his future.
‘’I am sure Ogba will not realize the implication of what he did to me and so many athletes he offered employment during his tenure.He showed he has a good heart.True the money he was spending was not his own but other sports commissioners in other states faced the same situation”,he said and also profusely thank the Civil Defence Corps and Ekiti state government for coming to the rescue of athletes who could be roaming the streets of Nigerian cities today in search of jobs and thereby fail to fulfil their potentials.
Obinna believes all the people he mentioned must take the credit for his transformation from a then naïve school boy in Enugu to the champion he is today.
On the race, he said he knew he was going to win the title and that people should not say he was just lucky to have carried the day.
‘’In as much as I want to agree it was my day,I still must let people know that I actually expected it-the victory over two-time champion,Fasuba.I really trained hard for the championships.I knew it was not going to be easy but I am glad nonetheless to have won what I will call the toughest Mobil championships I have ever seen.”
Metu also refused to accept that he benefited immensely from the fact that the pressure was not on him but on Fasuba who was defending his title and Adetoyi Durotoye who beat Fasuba penultimate Monday at the Abuja Grand Prix.
‘’I don’t think anybody is unbeatable.Durotoye proved it at the Grand Prix and I have proved it today”,he said and believes the pressure of running in the biggest stage ever in world athletics,the Beijing Olympics will not get to him and knock him.
‘’I don’t easily get stage fright.I believe I have what it takes to beat anybody.The fact that the likes of Usain Bolt,Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay are running so well does not translate to the gold in Beijing.We have seen cases of athletes who do so well in pre-Games events only to crumble when the chips are down”,he revealed and cited the example of Powell who was the name on everyone’s lips prior to the IAAF World Championships final in Osaka last year only to struggle to get the bronze.
The easy going,unassuming athlete is not however scared of losing.Instead he sees losing as a form of training because he sees it as a means of correcting his mistakes.
Right he does not want to predict what the outcome of the final in Beijing will look like,instead,he wants to enjoy his victory first before making any plans for the Olympics.