Nigeria and 16 other countries have converged in Abuja to campaign for tickets to the canoe events of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The competition is the first Confederation of Africa Canoe Sprint and Para Canoe qualifiers, which began at the Jabi Lake on Tuesday, and will end on Saturday.
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The other countries involved in the competition are Algeria, Angola, Djibouti, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and Mozambique. Others are São Tomé, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda.

Speaking on the competition in Abuja, president of the Rowing, Canoeing and Sailing Federation, Admiral Festus Porbeni, who was flanked by the president, Confederation of Africa Canoe, Joao Manuel Da Costa Alegre Afonso and other officials of the body, expressed Nigeria’s readiness to host the rest of Africa.

Porbeni, a retired Naval officer, described the championship as an improvement of the first Boat Championship, which held from July 26 to 30 in Abuja. He said: “At the last championship in Abuja in July, we demonstrated capacity to not only host regional, but international events. The endorsements by International Canoe Federation President, Thomas Konietzko, and Confederation of African Canoeing President, Joao Manuel Da Costa Alegre Afonso, signpost pragmatic development by the federation over the years.

“We have developed Nigeria-made boats for training and championship purposes. However, due to the standards expected by the IOC and ICF, we will be using Nelo (renowned world canoe and boats manufacturer based in Portugal) boats over the next few days. Nelo supported us with over 20 boats, which arrived in Nigeria two weeks ago.” He lamented the delay in getting the boats from the ports, saying that it has delayed their plans for the championship.

“Despite directives from the Finance Ministry through the support of the Sports Development Minister, Senator John Owan Enoh and intervention by Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, some unknown individuals out there made the boats difficult for us to access.”

In his address, CAC President, Joao Manuel Da Costa Alegre Afonso, saluted the resilience by the Nigeria Rowing, Canoeing and Sailing Federation, saying that the challenges which trailed the championship opener could only make Nigeria better.

He said, “Nigeria is renowned for being the best and that is why the best Canoeists in Africa had no objection in signing up to compete in Nigeria for slots at the Paris Olympic Games.”
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