Nigerians lament as Falconets liter Istanbul airport floor
Internet was filled with expressions of anger from Nigerians who shared the photographs of Nigeria’s Super Falconets sleeping on bare floor and metal lounge chairs at the Itanbul Airport, Turkey, on their way from national assignment.
But the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) arose from poor handling of the teams itinerary and difficulties in obtaining visas for Nigerians in Europe.
Some of the photos shared on the internet paired with separate pictures of a praise singer of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Mr DAUDA RARARA of Katsina State, alighting alone from a presidential jet.
Nigeria’s U-20 Women’s team, Falconets, stayed without any hotel accommodation for 19 hours at Istanbul after suffering 0-2 loss to The Netherlands and consequent exit from the Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.
“While politicians fly private jets, the NFF got the cheapest piss-poor flight for the Falconets. Our U20 girls left Costa Rica since Monday. They’re still facing over 19hrs layover in Istanbul, sleeping on the floor & on the chairs at the airport. IS THIS THE NIGERIA OF MY DREAM?” a Twitter user reasoned after posting several pictures of the girls sleeping on airport floor.
Another use user in the long list reacting users noted that “it reach to the extent that C’mon APC singer can use the presidential jet,” adding, “this is the problem of voting incompetency.”
“DAUDA RARARA is an APC singer born in katsina and currently living in Kano,if we vote APC again even their gatemen will be using the presidential jet, VOTE WISELY,” the user commented while posting the photograph of the singer alighting from a presidential jet.
The commentas digressed to massive corruption in the government whi one user pointing attention to cost overruns in projects executed by the outgoing government of President Muhammdu Buhari.
“An investigation has shown that the average cost per kilometer (km) of the Kano-Maradi rail line exceeds similar projects under the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), as estimated by the African Union (AU) by, at least, 100 per cent. GOD HAVE MERCY!” he exclaimed,
In its reaction to the raging internet outcry, Head of Communications at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Demola Olajire, said that the situation arose from inability to secure transit visas for the team.
He also quoted the General Secretary of the NFF, Mohammed Sanusi, as saying that the tickets were booked by FIFA and not the federation.
“The NFF did not book the team’s tickets from Costa Rica, FIFA did. “FIFA also did not envisage the hitches that saw the team delayed for more than three hours in Bogota, and another one hour in Panama. By the time the team got to Istanbul, the flight to Abuja had left.
“Our officials pleaded for compassionate transit visas to take the players and officials to a hotel inside the town, but this was not possible. They were informed that Nigeria had been removed from the list of countries whose citizens were issued visa-on-arrival in Turkey.
“The airline then took the team to a sleeping area at the airport and gave them tickets to have meals every five hours. This situation has nothing to do with NFF, who had made arrangements to receive the team in Abuja before the complications in travel arrangements,” Sanusi explained.
Olajire also added that the NFF had implored FIFA to intervene with the Embassy of Germany to issue the team transit visas before their departure from Nigeria, for the team to travel through Germany, but failed to happen.
