Nigerian teenage triple-jumper becomes world number one!
Young Teepee Princewill would love to represent Nigeria, but the largely ineffective structure in nurturing young talents in the country stands in his way.
At 16, Teepee has already attained number one position in the world under-18 triple jump competition.
He is of dual nationality and currently represents Great Britain.
“Teepee wants to jump for Nigeria,” his father, a Nigerian, said. “How do I explain the state of our sports to him?”
“Sponsors have started coming for him,” he added.
In truth, the possible realisation of the young Nigerian athlete’s dream to represent his fatherland hinges largely on the sports authorities’ inadequacies.
Tosin Oke, also of dual nationality (once represented Great Britain like Teepee) and one of the leading triple jumpers in Nigeria, would not forget in a hurry how he was treated by the Nigerian sports authorities leading to the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Oke was owed, along with other members of the Nigerian team, thousands of pounds of flight money until 36hrs before the event.
They were not properly catered for, and all performed woefully at the event.
It remains to be seen if the way things are being run by sports administrators in Nigeria would convince Teepee to don the country’s colours in the future.
