Sports Minister updates on why Nigerian cyclist borrowed bicycle in Olympic 2024
Comment
Following the backlash the Nigerian government has faced since Ese Ukpeseraye shared that she borrowed a bicycle from a German counterpart to represent Team Nigeria in the Olympic 2024, which is ongoing in Paris, the Sports minister has deemed it appropriate to explain why it turned out that way.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ese took to her Instagram handle earlier yesterday, August 8, to acknowledge the benevolence of her German counterpart, who lent her a bicycle to compete in the Olympics when Team Nigeria could not make one available at the moment due to certain unforeseen circumstances.
She said at the last minute, she was informed of her participation in the keirin and sprint events, but she encountered an unexpected challenge as she didn’t have a bicycle for the race. However, #teamNigeria received a helping hand from the German team, @bunddeutscherradfahr, who generously lent her a bicycle. She expressed her gratitude, stating, “In the spirit of sportsmanship, the German team came to my rescue by offering me a bicycle. Thank you,”
Her post, shared on social media, generated many embarrassing comments to the Nigerian government. Some called for the removal of the sports minister, insinuating he was bringing disgrace to the Nigerian sporting teams.
This comes barely a month after one of Nigeria’s prospects at the ongoing Paris Olympics, Favour Ofili, complained bitterly that she could not participate in the women’s 100m athletics event, which she had looked forward to. She was disappointed because the Nigerian sporting body failed to register her for the competition.
She wrote on social media, “It is with great regret that I have just been told I will not be competing in the 100 meters at this Olympic Games. I qualified, but those with the AFN and NOC failed to enter my name. I have worked for 4 years to earn this opportunity. For what…to not be entered and compete at the Olympic Games because the responsible organization failed to enter me?
She also recounted past events in which she had qualified but could not make headway because AFN, NADC, and NOC failed to release funds.
Following the above narratives, which have seemingly undermined the capacity of the government’s sporting body to meet the responsibility saddled on them, the Minister of Sport considered it indispensable this time to explain why the recent event happened the way it did.
Last night, the Minister released a statement to clarify the situation regarding Ese’s participation in the race. He explained that Ese was not originally intended to compete in the race, so the Federal government had not made provisions to procure a bicycle for her. The Minister further elaborated that when a country was disqualified from the race, it created an opportunity for Nigeria to participate. At this point, Ese had no other option but to use the bicycle provided by the German counterpart.
Enoh emphasized that it would not have been feasible to quickly acquire a bicycle for her, as the process of ordering and delivering such equipment typically takes months.
Read his statement below
‘’My attention has been called to a post on social media by Ese Ukpeseraye. After reading the post and some follow up comments i swung into action. Ese’s post seems to have been grossly misunderstood, perhaps also because it didn’t seem to give proper context to the matter in perspective. It is important i make some clarifications.
Abinitio, Team Nigeria qualified for one road race in cycling and prepared for it in terms of training and the appropriate competition equipment. Team Nigeria was fully prepared for this road race until two weeks ago after the Cycling team with the rest of Team Nigeria had already left for the Olympics, that a communication from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) was received reallocating additional slots to the Cyclist Federation of Nigeria (Kerin and individual sprint). This reallocation to Nigeria was due to the disqualification of a country, leaving Nigeria as the next eligible to make the list of qualified countries to compete. Unfortunately, this additional slot required the use of a different competition equipment in terms of biking.
For this track race reallocated to Team Nigeria, a very special equipment (approved specifically for the Olympic track game) is used. It’ll take months to have it delivered after ordering and making payment. To therefore get Ese to compete, the Federation through Ese’s Club in Europe and working with a German owned Company, got a ‘Track Bike’ for our cycler Ese.
ADVERTISEMENT
