By Ayomikun Fulani
The Nigerian contingent arrived the venue, at 1.55pm.
That’s OK, they were 5 minutes ahead of arrival deadline. “Oh no, we are sorry, you are late. You can’t participate”, one of the organizers politely informed the Nigerians. “Is this a joke”? One of the officials replied. “I am afraid, that’s the situation”, and the response jolted the Nigerian team back to reality.
Ok let us break it down further:
The rules say the athletes must arrive no later than one hour before the event time. The show time was billed for 3pm. So any arrival before 2pm was deemed legit, or so the Nigerians thought.
Fatal! The organizers had sent out messages to all participating countries that their athletes must arrive latest at 1.45pm for weigh-in and kits inspection. The Nigerians arrived at 1.55pm. 10 minutes difference and our hopes and aspirations went up in smoke.
Reaction: It was a lost cause, but no harm in trying. The Nigerian officials quickly put up a protest. “We did not receive any message. We didn’t get any mail, nothing”, they insisted.
“We sent out the mail to the Nigerian Paralympic Committee”, a stunned official of the games replied, bewildered.
A back and forth ensued, alas, nothing.
Lateefat Tijani and Onyinyechi Gift, sure medalists, ended up disqualified.
Quick thinking: How come all other countries arrived to time and only Nigeria arrived late?
Hmmmmm
Wole Opatola
Birmingham, UK.
