Kano Athletes' Deaths Must Not Be In Vain – Comrade Evah Calls for Action (International Edition)

The founding president of the Nigerian Skating Federation, Comrade Joseph Evah, has urgently appealed for action to make sure that the deaths of 22 athletes and officials from Kano State are remembered. He cautioned that unless continuous pressure is applied to the government, all efforts may amount to nothing more than empty promises and rhetoric. Saturday PUNCH reports.

At a press conference in Lagos State on Tuesday, Evah stated that the sports community should ensure the unfortunate fatalities do not go unheeded, since government representatives usually make remarks only for their promises to fade from memory within a month.

"We must ensure that these losses were not meaningless. The administration ought not to ignore these families; regardless of what measures, we should demonstrate our support within the sports fraternity," the ex-NSF president stated.

Twenty-two people lost their lives in a tragic road accident on Saturday when a Kano State Government minibus traveling along the Kaduna-Kano Expressway collided due to driver exhaustion and speeding. This occurred as they were returning from the 2024 National Sports Festival held in Ogun State, close to Gadar Yankifi. The vehicle’s license plate was KN 041 A17, according to reports from the Federal Road Safety Corp.

Evah showed significant anger about the reports indicating that the bus had malfunctioned several times prior to the accident, denouncing the Kano State government as 'dishonest' for permitting athletes to journey under such substandard circumstances.

“In the papers, the survivors revealed their bus broke down many times before the crash, and if we are not interested in following up, then more of this will happen,” he said.

The bus is quite outdated, and several government officials at both the federal and state levels might see that it had broken down multiple times prior to the accident, and consequently choose to disregard this fact.

He questioned whether the Kano State government would provide such a vehicle for politicians on campaign trips, asking, “Can the Kano state government give an old vehicle to politicians to go for any campaign? Not to talk of moving from the end of Nigeria to another end of Nigeria.”

The ex-federation president insisted that the Minister of Sports should promptly meet with the governor and travel to Kano to pay respects to the late athletes and comfort their families.

We would like to see them appear on television. The Governor should extend an invitation to the Minister. It’s important for them to be visible. We must witness empathy demonstrated by our leadership.

"The federal government has not taken action or motivated our young talents to excel. We are determined to push them intoaction. Should we observe that the Kano State government is being insincere, we will strive to ensure both the state government and the Federal Government react appropriately. As part of this effort, I am prepared to take legal measures against them," he asserted.

Leveraging his tenure as the president of the Nigeria Skating Federation, Evah emphasized the ongoing issue of insufficient insurance protection for athletes, stating, "During my time at the helm of the Nigeria Skaters Federation, we explored every possibility since skateboarding is an extremely hazardous activity. They kept evading us; our political leaders could evade our children too, but this evasion will not pay off without genuine political commitment."

Elijah Andrew, Chief of Staff of Ijaw Monitoring Group, condemned the Kano State government’s N1m compensation to victims’ families as “an insult,” comparing it unfavourably to the millions given for “irrelevant” purposes.

“Another insult from the Kano State commissioner was that they said they are giving all the families N1m. That is so sad. How can you say 1 million? We expected the government to give these people state burial,” he said.

He argued that the young athletes had “paid the supreme price” whilst representing their state, similar to military personnel who die in service, and deserved streets named after them and proper documentation of their sacrifice.

Rachel Nwabia, Alumni of the National Association of Ijaw Female Students, echoed calls for the Kano State government to visit each victim’s family for condolence visits, though she expressed doubt about their willingness to act without media pressure.

“The Kano State government would not, it is very hard for them to do such, except if the media keep emphasising it, then you will see them act. Without that, you will not see them act,” Nwabia said.

She suggested that the federal government should honour the 22 lives through monuments bearing their names in stadiums to encourage youth participation in sports.

The tragic accident has exposed long-standing issues in Nigerian sports administration, particularly regarding athlete welfare and transportation safety. The victims, who included wrestling and kickboxing athletes, journalists, secretaries of sports associations, referees, medical personnel and two drivers, were returning from the Gateway Games 2024 which ended on Thursday.

Among the deceased was Imam Umar Fagge, a football referee and younger brother of the acting chairman of the Kano State Sports Commission, Umar Fagge, who later described the victims as “among our best hands at the sports commission.”

The Federal Road Safety Corps has launched an investigation into the crash, with Zonal Commanding Officer Assistant Corps Marshal Ahmed Umar noting that the accident occurred at a notorious death trap spot. President Bola Tinubu described the incident as a “devastating blow to the nation” and called for concrete steps to prevent such tragedies.

The National Sports Commission has since announced mandatory comprehensive insurance coverage for all contingents and mechanical certification for vehicles used during sports festivals, though critics argue such measures should have been in place long before this tragedy occurred.

The government of Ogun State dispatched a team headed by Deputy Governor Engineer Naimot Salako-Oyedele to Kano where they provided a donation of ₦31 million to assist those affected.

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