Athletes were on Monday locked out of the National Stadium, and the Teslim Balogun Stadium, both in Lagos, as the nationwide strike by the labour unions to protest petrol subsidy removal began.
The athletes, including tennis players, boxers, footballers, basketball players and volleyball players from different academies, had to train under the flyover in front of the stadia.
Those who spoke to journalists explained that they supported the strike because the subsidy removal was ill-timed.
The athletes were already making bonfires in front of the stadia before policemen dispersed them.
They, however, said they were not against the removal, so long as the money expected from it would be used to address the economic problems of the country, including employment for the youth.
They also appealed to the federal government to reconsider its position on the matter, and listen to the yearnings of Nigerians.
Sunday Olufemi, a professional tennis player, said that when they arrived for training, they met the stadium gates locked and were advised by the gatemen to wait as they would be allowed in later.
“We know that labour has asked Nigerians to begin a nationwide strike today. But we feel that we could use the opportunity to train and improve our skills.
“We are in support of the strike, so long as the government and the unions agree on what is good and will reduce the suffering of the people.
“We were already making bonfires in solidarity with the unions before the police dispersed us,’’ Olufemi said.
Christian Ibiam of the Raptors Basketball Academy said that their team was supposed to train at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium but could not because the gates were locked.
“I wonder why it should be locked; as athletes we are supposed to be allowed to train as we earn our living from sports,’’ he said.
Peter Nwanze, a volleyball player, said there was nothing in the removal of fuel subsidy, but that it was ill-timed.
“Government can remove its subsidy on petrol so long as the proceeds from it will solve the problems of this country, especially employment for the youth, and we live in peace and harmony,’’ he said.
A foreign musician, Elizabeth Wilson, who accompanied her husband Charles Nwokolo, a boxer, said the subsidy removal was “bad as people are now paying too much for goods and services.
“There is money at the top that should be used to service the people at the low wrung of society.
“This is why this strike and any strike is a way for the people to express their dislike for a policy of government such as this,’’ said Wilson who plays classical music.
The U.S.-born musician appealed to the government and the labour unions to quickly reach an agreement that would be favourable to the people “since government is about people”.
Her husband, Nwokolo, aka “Young Dick Tiger’’, appealed to Nigerians to be peaceful as they protested subsidy removal.
Nwokolo, who is the proprietor of Tiger Boxing Gym in the U.S., said that though it was ill-timed and would bring hardship, it would pay the people in the future.