Athletes from more than 50 countries are competing at the 21st African Senior Athletics Championships which kick off on Wednesday, August 11.

Nigeria for only the second time is hosting the Championships since its inception in 1979. Asaba, the Delta State capital is hosting the stadium at the newly renovated and renamed Stephen Keshi Stadium.

Ahead of the opening day on Wednesday, international athletes started arriving in Asaba on Tuesday, July 31.

Hundreds of the athletes from over 12 countries were however left stranded due to lack of local connecting flights to the host city.

Arrangements were made for chartered flights straight to Asaba and other connecting flights to Benin from where they will take a short trip to the host city.

More than 300 athletes from Uganda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Morocco etc, slept at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights after failing to get the chartered and connecting flights.

Even when a chartered flight later became available, it couldn't take off from Lagos because it was dark already and the airport in Asaba is unlit.

The athletes who managed to get to Benin had to wait for long hours before they got a bus for the road trip to Asaba.

Moroccan and South African athletes spent three nights in Lagos, two nights at the airport and one at a hotel.

“Chaos in Nigeria     ! Over 300 athletes from 20 countries stuck at Lagos Airport & don’t know when they’ll head to Asaba for the African Senior Athletics Championships,” Ugandan journalist Usher Komugisha tweeted.

“Nigeria has done a very POOR job with the organization of flights! Look at Team Uganda.”

"#TeamKenya and many other visiting teams still stranded in Lagos after officials failed to get them flights to Asaba. The Africa Athletics Championships begin tomorrow. These pics were taken at the airport where they spent the day. They are now being taken to a Lagos Hotel," Kenyan sports journalist Carol Radull tweeted.

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“Shame on you Nigeria for playing Dirty tricks on African athletes who have been stranded in Lagos for more than 2 days ahead of the African Senior Athletics Championship,” another Ugandan tweeted.

“This is so sad and major investigations should be carried out by the IAAF.”

African record holder Marie Josee Ta Lou from Cote d’Ivoire took to her Instagram to lament her ordeal on arrival in Nigeria for the Championship.

“Three days of travel for some, two days of travel for another. Like you travel from Africa to Asia or America. If you are not ready to organize something please don’t,” Marie wrote.

“It is my first and last time to come to Nigeria to compete. No respect for people. This is my fourth African Championship and it’s my first time to have that kind of bad organization.”

"We haven't trained for three days, and we haven't eaten properly in two days," Moroccan high jumper Rhizlane Siba, the 2014 African champion told New York Times.

Some of the athletes stranded in Lagos included sprinters who were scheduled to take part in a 100m race in the morning of the opening day.

Opening day events postponed

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After their ordeal at the airport, Team Kenya threaten to boycott the Championships and turn back home. Reports emerged from Kenya that the government were ready to fly their athletes home if they don’t arrive in Asaba by noon of the opening day.

That embarrassment was averted as the first batch of Kenyan athletes arrived in Asaba via a chartered flight around 9.am on Wednesday.

Team South Africa and Team Cameroon athletes were also among the contingents that arrived in Asaba on opening day.

The Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) postponed the kick off of the championships from 9.am to 3 pm because of the delays in the arrival of the athletes.

The remaining events will be squeezed into the remaining four days of the Championships.

Kenya is also pushing for the men’s 10000m event to be pushed from Wednesday to Thursday.

Asaba overwhelmed

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The general feeling from everyone in Asaba is that the city has been overwhelmed with the hosting of the Championship.

“This is the first time Asaba is hosting a Championship of this magnitude and they are overwhelmed,” a journalist told .

On arrival, many athletes also had issues of accommodation as no room was booked for them. Visitors also had problems with their luggage.

Most of the athletes are without their pieces of luggage which are still in Lagos.

“The available flights cannot take all the luggage at once, so some athletes had to leave their bags in Lagos,” a source from the LOC told Pulse Sports.

Chairman of the LOC Solomon Ogba do not agree that Asaba has been overwhelmed with hosting of the Championship, rather, he is optimistic that a few things will be done to perfect everythiong.

“A few places still being perfected. We are ready to host Africa,” Ogba told Pulse Sports.

Accreditation headache for journalists

Journalists were not left out of the chaos as accreditation tags to cover the championships were still not ready.

According to LOC, the numbers of journalists that applied for the accreditation exceeded their expectations and were yet to print them as at noon on opening day.

Social media reactions

Disappointed Nigerians have taken to Twitter to lament on the recent show of shame from the country again.

From journalists to sports enthusiasts and concerned Nigerians, the mishap in Asaba is a recurrence of the ineptitude that has crippled the country.

“Really Embarrassing scenes for Nigeria. This is what #Asaba2018 has become - International Embarrassment. Athletes sleeping with their luggage at the Lagos airport cos there is no flight to Asaba. Why don't we just learn? Depressing !!!  Depressing !!!,” a user @TweetOrackle tweeted.

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“It is shameful what #Asaba2018 has turned to. To call it a fiasco will be complimentary. But as usual, there will be no consequence for it & people will make millions from the utter disgrace and we will all move on to the next disgrace. The utter lack of shame is a big problem,”  Biola Kazeem said.

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“Reports from Asaba was messy at the welcome dinner plus hall of fame. Out of 30 that supposed to be inducted, only 2 Nigerians showed up. Other athletes frustrated, unhappy & some still stranded. The level of incompetence in this country should be in Guinness book of records,” sports journalists Pooja Media said.

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“#Asaba2018 is a huge disgrace. The hashtag is too worrying. Shame on the Ministry of Sports for failing to plan well, & shame on the Ministry of Aviation for not getting Asaba Airport in order & preparing for the event. Hundreds of Athletes stranded, no late night fights to Asaba,”  Isima Odeh also said.

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Induction ceremony

The 2018 African Senior Athletics Championshipswas officially declared open with the induction ceremony of some African athletes into the CAA Hall of Fame on Tuesday, July 31.

The ceremony was attended by host Governor of Delta State Ifeanyi Okowa, CAA president Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, President of the IAAF Sebastian Coe, Nigeria’s Minister of Sports Solomon Dalung and President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick.

Only two, Blessing Okagbare and Olusoji Fasuba, out of the 16 athletes inducted on the night were present at the ceremony.

The Flight delays and logistic problems which have marred the opening day of the Championships were said to be reason why the other 14 inductees were not present.

Nigerian singer Waje was also at the ceremony for a music performance.