Team Nigeria storm Morocco, ready for competition

• Ese Brume to arrive on August 21
The second batch of Nigerian team to this year’s African Games arrived in Morocco yesterday afternoon. The advance team had left Lagos for the North African country at the weekend to prepare the grounds, and yesterday, the judo team, made up of eight persons, left the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos at 2.05 a.m., and arrived in Casablanca in the evening. The male football team also left Lagos yesterday evening.

A total of 562 athletes and officials will represent Nigeria at the Games, which is the 12th edition.The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Olusade Adesola had revealed recently that 100 special guests would be part of the contingent to Morocco, adding that the contingent is made up of 153 male and 178 female athletes, as well as 58 coaches. Others are 27 medical personnel, 20 team secretaries, four secretariat staff and two officials of NOC.

Adesola told The Guardian yesterday that two top officials in the ministry, Dr. Ademola Are, who is the chairman, Passage For The Games, and Mrs. Tayo Oreweme, General Team Manager, saw the judo team off to the airport in Lagos before their departure to Morocco.

According to him, athletes whose events come early at the Games were the first to be airlifted to Morocco. Team Nigeria will participate in 22 sports at the games, which include athletics, badminton, boxing, canoe-kayat, chess, cycling, gymnastics, judo, karate, rowing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, weightlifting, wrestling, basketball, beach volleyball, volleyball, football and handball.

Meanwhile, rave of the moment, long jumper, Ese Brume is expected to join Team Nigeria in Morocco on August 21.Speaking with The Guardian from her base in North-Cyprus yesterday, Brume, who made big headlines recently in Turkey by jumping 7.05m, said: “Hopefully, I will join them on August 21.”