The
2011 African club playoffs in Nigeria saw First Bank pros staging a
walkout midway. One of the players who is now based in the United States
told PIUS AYINOR that it was all about cash
The Elephant Girls, as the First Bank
team is known, have always been envied for their dominance of the
Nigerian women basketball. But the entrance of First Deepwater girls a
few years ago altered the atmosphere as they have joined the likes of
Dolphins and Sunshine Angels to challenge their ranking. Once upon a
time too, they were challenged and overthrown by Eko Fliers and the
Customs but the competition then was not as balanced as it is now.
On the continent, the Elephant Girls
relied on their players in US schools and other available professionals
from that region. It had always worked out smoothly as they have won the
African cup twice but the last edition was not so smooth as spectators
witnessed their refusal to play at the National Stadium, Lagos. Many
people suspected what could have gone wrong but only few knew exactly
what was wrong until Adeola (Olarenwaju) Wylie – one of the pros from
the US told her own side of the story.
She said, “I landed in Nigeria on
November 8, 2011. I came in early because I was supposed to help First
Bank play in the prelims for the continental competition. Prior to my
arrival, I spoke with Coach Aderemi Adewunmi about the professional fees
in which he told me what we will be paid to play in both prelims and
continental. Before I continue, let me say that this is my third time
playing for First Bank and I never had any issues over my payment in the
past. The agreement has never been in writing but now I know it was a
mistake on my part to have worked with just verbal agreement. They had
always taken good care of us.
“A few days after I touched down, we
received word that the qualifiers had been cancelled. It was neither the
bank’s fault nor the players. Concerned, my fellow teammates from US
and I asked about our compensation since we would not be playing in the
prelims and we were assured by Aderemi that they will pay since that was
the main reason we came to Nigeria so early. If we had any hint that we
won’t be paid we would have left because myself and the other two
US-based players also play professionally abroad, so it would not have
made sense to be in Nigeria so early to only be compensated for a
tournament that was to hold the following month.
“The procedure in the past for First
Bank was once the foreign-based players arrived, we were usually
accommodated in a hotel within three days of landing in Nigeria but that
was not the case this time. We stayed at the First Bank hostel for
over three weeks, with literally brown water and poorly serviced toilet
system. We didn’t receive our feeding money until three weeks after
landing, meaning we were using our own money to eat. We were forced to
shower with brown water, wash our clothes with this same water or
purchase ‘pure’ water to bath and do the necessary procedures to stay
healthy and clean. When we asked the manager, Ngozi Iwuanyanwu, what
the problem was, the answers were only consolatory and not
problem-solving.
“Finally, as players we were forced to
strike and refused to practice for about four days, which was
embarrassing and a waste of time on our part because as professional
athletes we could have been making money playing elsewhere.
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