Athletes beg the public for funds to represent Nigeria at Olympics

Barely 13 days to the 2016 Olympics game in Brazil, some Nigerian athletes have taken to social media to solicit funds to fly to Rio.

Some of the athletes, who could not afford to miss the Olympics after about four years of preparation owing to delay in releasing funds for them, begged well-meaning Nigerians to come to their rescue.

The athletes are Regina George, Seye Ogunlewe, Nikki Okwelogu and Chierika Ukogu.

George represented Nigeria at the London 2012 Olympics and was the silver medalist at the African Championships in Porto Novo in 2012.

George, who tweets via @DivaOnTheTrack, took her request of $4,000 to a crowd-sourced funding platform, gofundme.com.

She wrote: “To all my family friends and fans thanks for being here for me through the good times and bad times. This year it’s been hard financially for me but it wouldn’t have been possible without your support.

“I just been told that we will have to pay our own way to the Olympics this year. Sadly, this is such short notice for me to come up with the money.

“They (Sports authorities) also promised a refund but I’m still waiting for many refunds promised in the past. I been through a lot of obstacles this year and through it all I made my second Olympics team.

“I don’t want to stop now after I earned a spot to represent my country (Nigeria) in the Olympics. Any donation will help my situation. This will not go unnoticed and I’m truly grateful for my supporters.”

George has already received $640 from spirited donors.

Okwelogu and Ukogu also used gofund.me to beg for funds.

Ogunlewe, who tweets via @seyeogunlewe, said: “Just so every one knows. We all got that message saying we should get our own tickets to Rio, #helpnigerianathletes.”

Tony Ubani, publicity secretary of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC). expressed shock a the public appeals for fund, saying: “I am shocked to hear this.

“I doubt if truly the ministry sent such email out to the athletes. I can’t confirm this. It is the ministry that is in a better position to confirm or deny this.”

All calls by TheCable to reach Solomon Dalung, minister of youth and sports, on phone were futile, as he did not answer them.

It would be recalled that while hosting the Olympics contingent on Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari had promised that his administration would ensure the prompt release of funds budgeted for the Rio Olympics.