Top officials of the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) have been battling to calm restive players and officials of the federation following an alleged manipulation of the federation’s list of players for the forthcoming All Africa Games by some people claiming to be working for Sports Minister, Senator John Owan Enoh.
Specifically, the protesting players and officials allege that some top officials of the sports ministry have tampered with the squad list submitted for the Games, dropping teenage sensation, Hope Uduaka, for Cecilia Otu-Akpan, who, they said, have been inactive for over a year. Uduaka, who is the national champion, is one of the players tipped to win medals for the country.
In a letter made available to The Guardian, the protesting players said: “The decision by the Federal Ministry of Sports Development to drop Hope Uduaka from the Nigeria table tennis contingent to the 13th Africa Games has drawn the ire of stakeholders.
“Following the final selection of the team made up of experienced and young players by the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), the ministry through an aide of the Minister, instructed the federation to drop Uduaka for an ‘inactive’ player whose last outing for Nigeria was a year ago, compared to Uduaka who had been national champion in the last six months.
“To ensure the country built a team for the future, NTTF had selected teenage sensations Matthew Kuti, Sukurat Aiyelabegan and Uduaka to join experienced stars like Quadri Aruna, Olajide Omotayo and Edem Offiong for the trip to Ghana.
“In the last two weeks, Kuti, Amadi Umeh, Aiyelabegan and Uduaka have been in camp shaping up for the Games, while the team was set to depart today (March 2) but a last minute decision from the ministry altered the list to drop Uduaka for Cecilia Otu-Akpan.”
They called on the Sports Minister, Senator John Owan Enoh, to ensure people ‘with ulterior motive’ did not use his name to destroy what the NTTF has been building for over four years.
Contacted, an official of the Sports ministry told The Guardian that Senator Owan Enoh was in a crucial meeting, promising that the minister would deal with the issue dispassionately.
