27th June, 2025
By Yusuf Mutiu
Athletes from across Nigeria are currently stuck at their various hostels at Babcock University in Irish Ilishan due to an ongoing protest by Ogun state athletes over unpaid allowance by the government.
The athletes resumed to picket the gate as early as 5:30am and no vehicle has been allowed in or out of the campus making it impossible for athletes of other states to report to their various venues to continue the game.
An athlete from Ogun state spoke to Yusuf Mutiu Olaitan during the peaceful demonstration and expressed his disappointment in the state despite the commitment shown by athletes to do the state proud.
“We are disappointed in the state for how they have treated us. We have shown commitment and we have done this state proud in many sports, still we are not being paid. We feel it’s a betrayal. We have seen how the people of Ogun state have supported us since we started the game, all the government has to do is motivate the athlete and they have not done that”.
The athlete, who represented Ogun in Scrabble and also won a medal, plead to the concerned authorities to see to the payment of their entitlements.
“On behalf of all Ogun state athletes at the 22nd National Sports Festival, I urge the concerned authorities to pay us our entitlements, it’s what we work for. We promise to be disciplined but we shall not allow the game to continue until we are settled,” he said.
As at the time of filing this report, the protest has been on for more than 3hrs and it doesn’t look like there’s an end in sight.
Engr. Jimoh Cook Ridwan, CEO JCR Engineering Constructions supported this reporter to cover Gateway 2024.