By John Essien
The Nigerian story at the Commonwealth Games has begun with a familiar taste of incompetence after reports emerged that producers of Team Nigeria’s kits had failed to meet up with the production deadline.
Despite having months to prepare for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Team Nigeria contingent to the United Kingdom were left at the mercy of a sportswear manufacturer minutes before the opening ceremony.
In a report by the BBC, Nigeria’s Minister of Youths and Sports development, Sunday Dare approached MG Sportswear in Kidderminster explaining the embarrassing situation and requesting a supply of kit for the Nigerian athletes.
MG Sportswear Manager Gino Ruffinato explained that his team had to work around the clock to ensure the Nigerian kits were available for the athletes.
Ruffinato enlisted all his 14 staff to get to work to make the order required by the Nigerian team.
The supplier was approached to make hundreds of items on Tuesday after the team said they were let down by their suppliers.
He said, “As it progressed I started getting emails with orders on, so at that point I thought, hang on, I think this is serious.
“Everybody’s embraced it, they’ve worked hard and done many hours to make sure it happens.
“When they hit us with the deadline saying it needs to be there for Friday and today was Tuesday… there’s all the fabric, the print, the designs to get out in two days. It was a bit hair-raising.”
This is not the first time Team Nigeria has found itself lagging in the supply of complete kits for their athletes, as it would be recalled that the contingent to Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games had appeared poorly kitted just hours before the commencement of the games.
