Hapeol Kiryat Ono of Israel player, Isoken Nosa-Odia said Nigeria athletes were poorly fed at the 2019 African Games camp in Abuja.
Nosa-Odia claimed that despite the billions of naira approved for the camping, the athletes were given low standard meals.
She said athletes were pay less at the 2019 African Games in Morocco compared to the 2015 All African Games in Brazzaville.
She said, “I have had a share countless times of bad governance in the country including the sports industry. During the 2019 African Games camp, athletes were given breakfast with 1 sachet milk and 1 milo and 4 slice of bread and we kept on hearing billions of naira was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The unfortunate things we had fewer athletes that participated in the 2019 African Games compared to the number of the two previous All African Games I attended and yet we were paid lesser.
“In 2011 All African Games in Maputo, we got $100 per a day for 21 days, at the 2015 All African Games in Brazzaville we got $150 for 21days but at the 2019 African Games in Morocco, athletes got $100 for 17 days. In 2011 we buy playing shoes for 3000 naira and the highest was 5000 naira but now the least you get a playing shoe for is 6000 naira, these are fairly used shoes”.
She alleged that some senior officials of the sports ministry who brought their family and friends to the 2019 African Games got more funds than the athletes themselves.
Nosa-Odia said overseas athletes had to agitate for the professional grants.
She told www.aclsports.com that, “Individuals who had no business in Morocco for the 2019 African Games with the help of officials the ministry of sports benefited more than the athletes and bought so many things. We had to agitate for our professional granted to be paid to us as international players, this money was available. How long do we have to keep silence?
The former Maccabi Holon of Israel player told www.aclsports.com that the educational structure in the country does not support active athletes.
Nosa-Odia revealed that she almost missed her examinations while representing her institution at the West Africa University Games.
She said, “I have been playing in the national team of this country Nigeria since 2010 while I go for national and international championship my academics suffers all because there is still no structure for professional athletes to be student as the same time.
“While I went for West Africa University Games (WAUG), I had to come home before the end of games to write my exams in school that was the case countless times. A country that has been attending Olympic Games since in the 50s and won our first medal in the summer Olympic in Japan, 1964 and other World Championship still does not have a curriculum in university for professional athletes”.
She added, “Athletes are supposed to be the “never do well” that is how they still see us, they are surprised when they asked what we studied in school and it is not Physical Health Education, it is strange to the press when they interview some of us and we speak eloquently.
“Bad press is one of the major problems of this country, citizens grant interviews and it gets edited because speaking the truth they know but they scared of offending the power that be.
“How long as athletes will we be quiet for fear of been victimized? We the Youths have a medium to express ourselves now, it should not be #endsars alone but also #end everything that is bad in the society”, she ended.
