By Joseph Edegbo :
As sport enthusiasts continue to express disappointment over the termination of PUMA Contract and abysmal performance of Nigerian athletes at the ongoing Olympic fiesta in Japan, a Kaduna based Athletic Ambassador, Nuhu Yusuf has exonerated President Athletic Federation of Nigeria,(AFN) Ibrahim Shehu Gusau of any blame.
He lambasts critics of Gusau, saying achievements of the AFN President would remain indelible and evergreen in history of sports in Nigeria.
The Athletics Ambassador made the assertion in a statement made available to Journalists, Thursday in Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria.
Yusuf mentioned sealing of the PUMA Contract in 2019, a milestone achievement of the Gusau led administration, expressing disappointment in the inability of Ministry of Sports under Sunday Dare to keep Nigeria’s side of the contract obligation .
“If Gusau had been given a freewill to prepare and take our athletes to Tokyo, I assure you this calamitous and shameful Olympic outing, unarguably the worst in our sport history wouldn’t have happened.
“He was sidelined, victimized and persecuted despite the enormous sacrifice, selfless service and the innovations he brought to Nigerian athletic making it hitherto the envy of all.
“It baffles me how some people would turn around and heap blame on Gusau for our woes and deliberate scuttling of the PUMA Contract and the sorry state of our athletics, ” he said.
The sport ambassador particularly, blamed Sunday Dare for refusing the country’s contingents at Japan 2021 to wear and use the PUMA’S kits, describing the Minister’s action as unpatriotic and counterproductive which he said led to low spirit and lack of enthusiasm in Nigerian camp, resulting to poor performance.
He attributed disqualification and banning of Nigerian athletes to poor preparation, lack of direction, corruption at the ministry of sports under Dare whom he accused of destroying gains made by Gusau’s AFN, urging president Buhari to wade in before the damage done becomes irreversible.
“Nigeria is the most affected country, not meeting the minimum testing requirements under Rule 15 for 10 athletes.
“Is it not shameful that, Athletes and officials of Team Nigeria at the ongoing Tokyo Olympic Games are reportedly at loggerheads over phones given to athletes from each participating country by Samsung.
“A friend of mine who is on ground confirmed to me that the officials failed to give the 10 disqualified athletes their Samsung phones.
“Each athlete at the Olympics is entitled to one Samsung phone each. All they need to do is go to the Samsung office, scan their accreditation cards and get their phones.
“But the Nigerian delegation, through a very senior ministry official, went to the Samsung office and took all the phones for Team Nigeria athletes. As the athletes went to meet the official and he said, they are not competing, so they can’t get a phone.’
“That’s not the rule, the rule says as long as you are an accredited Olympic athlete, you are meant to get a phone, it’s your right”, he said.
He went further to say that, “It is a disgrace watching other nations being represented and performing excellently in various events while Nigeria is absent without representation.
Sports Administrators Should Put Nigeria First
“When administrators should be occupied on deploying strategies that would help us win medals as other countries are doing, but they are busy looking for personal advantages instead of Nigeria’s.
” This is responsible for our medal drought at Tokyo 2020, which I believe will persist until the wrongs are corrected.
“It should begin by recognizing Engr Ibrahim Shehu Gusau as the legitimate president of AFN and be given all supports to succeed”.
