From the kits supplied to Team Nigeria to the reduced allowance by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, all may not be well in the camp of Nigeria at the ongoing 12th African Games in Morocco.
According to an official who pleaded anonymity, the kits worn by Team Nigeria was the worst as the quality of the material could not be compared to the ones provided in 2015.
“Before the games, some officials travelled to China to get the kits and they brought some samples which were of good standard but there was complains about the price. But when we saw what they gave to the athletes, it was the worst because it was not the specific brand and the players were even complaining because of the size,” the source said.
However, there are indications that the athletes may be set for a showdown with the officials after rejecting the $100 daily allowance approved for the athletes.
Also, some officials and journalists that flew the chartered Air Peace Flight from Abuja were asked to part with N260,000. A situation which has continued to generate controversy in Morocco that a plane that was chartered by government. Some of the journalists fumed over the decision by the Ministry officials to get paid before they boarded the plane from Nigeria.
“When we were coming to the airport, we were told that our names were on the list and when we got there some of our names were there but we were surprised when we were told to pay N260,000 for a plane that had already being paid for by the government. We were warned that if we fail to pay, we would not be airlifted back to Nigeria. But I had to call a friend to transfer the money to me so that I can pay because I don’t want to be stranded in Morocco after the games. But this is very unfair on us even some of the officials listed in the manifest were asked to pay as well,” the journalist who pleaded anonymity said.
Some federations secretaries may be heading to face-off with some top Ministry officials after their allowance were prune. Some of the scribes were paid $2500, $5000, $6000 and $7000 with some of them grumbling that they are expected to be paid same amount.
Even some of the federation presidents who made it to Morocco could get accreditation to access the event venues and games village.
The NationSport however, learnt that accreditation was issued to officials that would be lodged in the game village and that any official staying outside the games village would not be issued accreditation. Most of the federation presidents were lodged outside the games village.
Also, the athletes are still pained over the purchase of substandard equipment by the officials with some of them deciding to use theirs for the games.