Sad! Nigeria’s First Olympic Medalist ‘Buried With Borrowed Flag’

 

The first Nigerian to win an Olympic medal, Nojimudeen Maiyegun, has been buried.

He was buried in Vienna, Austria, without the presence of the federal government delegation or officials of the Nigerian mission in Austria.

Maiyegun, a courageous boxer who possessed a lethal left fist during his fighting career, paved the way for Nigeria at the Olympics with a bronze medal in Tokyo, Japan in 1964.

A Nigerian living in Austria described the Nigerian government’s treatment of the 83-year-old former boxer as a national disgrace because his body was buried “with a borrowed green and green Nigerian national flag.”

He wrote: “Attention: Presidency (Aso Rock Villa) Federal Ministry of Sports Nigeria

“Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria has overlooked the death of another national hero.

“Nojim Maiyegun, the first Nigerian to win an Olympic medal, was buried in Vienna, Austria, as a nobody, so much so that the Nigerian flag used to cover his coffin was borrowed.
The question that came to my mind was: “Is Nigeria worth dying for?”
“Not even a book of condolences was opened for him at the Nigerian Mission in Austria. We demand an immediate apology from the Federal Government of Nigeria, a belated message of condolences to the family of the late legend and a posthumous national honour.

“It is worth mentioning that the only government agency that sent a message of condolence to the family of the deceased was NIDCOM (Hon. Abike Dabiri Erewa).” [Freedom Online]

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