Last week, news broke that a high school basketball player in Canada, Jonathan Nicola, had been outed as a 30-year-old Sudanese man, posing as a 17-year-old student in order to remain in Canada on a student visa as part of the Canada Homestay program. Nicola had been living with his basketball coach, Pete Cusumano, for six months by the time his actual identity and age had been uncovered by the Canada Border Services Agency. Nicola was arrested last week.
At this week’s hearings, Nicola, in defense of this bizarre turn of events, claims that he himself didn’t know he was 29-years-old (Nicola’s actual birth date was revealed to be Nov. 1, 1986, meaning he’s actually 29, and not 30 as it was originally reported). How is this possible? Nicola said in South Sudan where he’s from, students constantly switch schools, and are rarely asked or told specifics on their age. He went on to say that his coach in Africa, “Coach Steyn,” helped him with his application to Canada, and this coach listed Nicola as having been born in 1998. Nicola objected at first, but after finding out his mother didn’t have firm birth information on him either, allowed Steyn to use 1998 as his birth year on the application.
I told him, no, I was not born in 1998. I told him that I am too young for 1998. I’m not in 1998. Then he told me, ‘No, you go back ask my mother, ask my mother how old am I.’ And my mother she do not even remember. She told me 1993, 1990.
It will be decided in late May whether or not Nicola will be sent back to Africa, or allowed to remain in Canada.
