The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) has denied authoring a
congratulatory message purportedly sent to the Athletics Federation of
Nigeria (AFN) after the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar
last month.
Nigeria won a bronze medal courtesy of long jumper, Ese Brume and a
congratulatory letter dated October 7, 2019 emerged in the social
media, purportedly written by the NOC and signed by its president,
Engr Habu Ahmed Gumel hailing the AFN president, Honourable Ibrahim
Gusau ‘on the recent performance of the AFN at the just concluded Doha
2019 IAAF World Championships.”
In a swift reaction, the NOC has vehemently denied congratulating the
AFN and disowned the letter in the social media purportedly signed by
its president, Gumel.
The Committee revealed the only congratulatory message it sent to the
AFN and other sports federations was the one that congratulated the
federation(s) on the 10 gold medals (now nine after the IAAF stripped
Olatoye Oyesade of her Shot Put medal for not meeting the eligibility
conditions) won in the athletics event at the African Games in Rabat,
Morocco last August.
“The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), as part of the tradition of the
Olympic movement and solidarity wrote letters and sent to all
federations that participated at the just concluded African Games in
Morocco to congratulate and encourage them for their exploit at the
Games,’ the NOC wrote in a press statement signed by its Public
Relations Officer, Phemmy Adetula.
The letter according to Adetula is a symbol of unity amongst the
Olympic family which has the composition of the federations.
“The Nigeria Olympic Committee did not write nor issue any other
congratulatory letter thereafter,” the statement added.
Athletics buffs had expressed concern over the congratulatory letter
when it emerged over the weekend in the social media, wondering how
the NOC could overlook the embarrassment, through sheer incompetence
and ineptitude, caused by the AFN in Doha which led to the initial
disqualification of sprinters, Divine Oduduru and Blessing Okagbare
from the championships after they both failed to appear for the 100m
event after they had been duly registered by the AFN.
They (athletics buffs) are even questioning the congratulatory letter
written to the AFN after the Games in Rabat when news filtered out
that shot putter, Olatoye Oyesade has been stripped of the gold medal
she won in the event and the bronze in the women’s Hammer throw.
IAAF had sent out notice on July 31, a clear 26 days before the
athletics event of the African Games began in Rabat of Olatoye’s
ineligibility to compete for Nigeria at the event.
This blunder by the AFN came 26 months after the disgrace at the 2018
Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia when Nigeria
registered high jumper, Mike Edward for the Games despite a 2017
freezing order placed by the IAAF on transfer of allegiance.
Incredibly, the AFN was the only federation who claimed ignorance of
the rule and Edward caused an embarrassing scene at the Games,
accusing the IAAF president, Sebastian Coe and the IAAF of playing
dirty.
