- The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN) did not make provision for one for her to use
The disorganisation, greed, corruption and disorder that characterise sport administration in Nigeria were on full display again at the ongoing Olympics.
Nigeria is in the news again for the wrong reason after cyclist Ese Ukpeseraye resorted to borrowing a bicycle from the German team to compete in the Keirin and Sprint events at the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN) did not make provision for one for her to use.
“Due to the short notice of me competing in the Keirin & Sprint, #TeamNigeria, I had no bicycle to race with on the tracks. In the spirit of sportsmanship, the German team @bunddeutscherradfahr came to my rescue by offering me a bicycle,” the 25-year-old, who became the first Nigerian cyclist to compete at the Olympics, posted on social media.
The incident is the latest in a series of maladministration, dysfunction and corruption issues involving federations in charge of Team Nigeria at the Paris Games.
The issues began a few days into the tournament after the negligence of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and NOC denied Favour Ofili the chance to compete in the women’s 100m event.
In a statement on social media, the 21-year-old Ofili said she would not be participating in the 100m race after being informed that the NOC and AFN failed to submit her name for the event despite her qualifying by winning the National Olympic Trials in Benin.
Subsequently, sports minister John Enoh released a statement requesting details regarding the incident and tasked the NOC and AFN with ensuring Ofili’s participation in the 100m, but both bodies were unsuccessful in their late efforts to register the athlete to compete.
Meanwhile, neither the NOC nor AFN has taken responsibility for the incident, with both bodies pushing the blame onto each other