The 2018 edition of the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Senior Championship ended at Asaba, Delta State recently with many African countries in attendance. With the event marred by poor organisation and logistics problems, questions remain as to whether our country can ever get anything right.

Ordinarily, there was unique feel to the CAA Championships because almost 50 countries gathered in Nigeria for the event which served as trials for the 2018 IAAF Continental Cup scheduled for Ostava, Chech Republic from September 8-9. But the sham about the event was manifest in the deluge of hiccups that characterised it. From slow accreditation procedures to athletes fetching water in buckets in the stadium, and a near catastrophe of an overhead tank that collapsed at the venue, the hitches are scandalous and cannot be dismissed out of hand.

Tanzania refused to attend the championship. It is alleged the East and Central African nation received official invitation only a day to the event. And the invitation was sent via WhatsApp! But the biggest fiasco and talking point was the tale of athletes stranded for days at the Lagos airport and having to sleep on bare floor at the airport because of irregular flight connection between Lagos and Asaba. The resultant lapses in logistics compromised the preparation of many of the athletes, who only arrived the venue well behind schedule.

The explanation offered by the Local Organising Committee that the airport was already shut at the time some of the contingents arrived and could not be connected to Asaba is out of tune with logic. The sight of foreign athletes sleeping at the airport was disgraceful. It is a case of poor planning by the LOC that opted for the easy path of grandstanding instead of admitting to the lapses that brought about a national humiliation. Besides the organisational lapses, there were also complaints about the bumpy and slow tartan track, which made many of the athletes to be cautious and unable to put up their best to avoid risk of injury.

Despite the hitches, there are some accolades from Asaba 2018 which other countries can build on in subsequent editions. The presence of world class athletes like Caster Semenya, Akani Simbine, Blessing Okagbare, Tobi Amusan and Marie Josee Ta Lou, Edward Zanyo, among others is a refreshing experience. Nigeria also used the event to set a benchmark for future editions by placing a monetary value on the medals won by the outstanding athletes.

In a departure from the old practice, where only medals were given the top performers, gold medalists at Asaba 2018 received $3,000, silver medalists, $2,000 and bronze winners $1,000. Aside from prize money, transport subsidies were also granted to the participating countries. The championship also discovered some bright Nigerians who will be potential world beaters in future international events, particularly the Olympic Games. These new discoveries include Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, who set a new men’s Shot Putt record; Ese Brume in the long jump, Chioma Onyekwere in women’s discuss, Tobi Amusan in the women’s 110 metres hurdles and Grace Anigbata in the women triple jump.

However, what many remember were the failings. Globally, sporting festivals are used to evaluate the organisational ability of a host nation and showcase its tourist potential to international visitors. Unfortunately, the Asaba 2018 event was marred by organisational blemishes that created a huge image deficit for Nigeria in the minds of the athletes and the visiting delegations. While it cost the Delta State Government about N4 billion to organise the championship, including the renovation of the Stephen Okechukwu Keshi Stadium, the inability of the LOC to get off the mark left many sour points and created an impression that it was money down the drain.