- One of the tragedies of Nigeria is that it not only kills your dream, but it also makes it nearly impossible for you to sleep, so that you don’t get the opportunity to dream again
- From sport to education, the sordid fingerprint of the Nigerian state can be seen in the crime scene of slain talents and unfulfilled potential.
One of the tragedies of Nigeria is that it not only kills your dream, but it also makes it nearly impossible for you to sleep, so that you don’t get the opportunity to dream again. And in rare cases where you can dream again, it not only leaves you with the difficulty of turning your dreams into reality, but it also actively works against ensuring your dreams don’t come true. From sport to education, the sordid fingerprint of the Nigerian state can be seen in the crime scene of slain talents and unfulfilled potential. This dangerous and unconscionable make-up of the nation has starved it of the key ingredients it needs to drive its development.
If medical practitioners and engineers are not crossing many oceans in search of greener pastures in a new country, athletes are switching allegiance because the nation they are doing everything to put on the global map does not care about them as it is not bothered about the simplest and easiest of tasks that bolster the athletes career. The latest victim of this peculiar Nigerian state aversion to excellence and glory is Nigerian track and field sensation, Favour Ofili. News filtered through over the weekend that the sprint star has now switched his allegiance to Turkey after a litany of questionable oversight occasioned by troubling administrative failure and shocking national incompetence, which was beginning to turn what was supposed to be a glorious and exceptional career into a checkered, regret-filled endeavour.
The incidents that spurred the switch
Ofili reportedly switched international allegiance to Turkey on 31 May after expressing discontent and displeasure with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).
According to veteran reporter Kenny Raynor, sources familiar with the matter told TvjNewscentre (a Jamaican News outlet) that the 22-year-old athlete informed the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) that her decision was not fuelled by pecuniary gains, but stemmed from her long-standing dissatisfaction with how Nigerian athletics officials had managed her career.
Ofili, who holds personal bests of 10.93 seconds in the 100m and 21.96 seconds in the 200m, was said to have chronicled to the AIU how she missed the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to Nigeria’s failure to meet mandatory anti-doping requirements for selected athletes. That same incident affected nine other Nigerian athletes who were disqualified from competition, resulting in global ridicule for the country.
Last year, she was also excluded from the 100m event at the Paris 2024 Olympics due to what she described as another administrative oversight by the AFN. Although she ran in the 200m and placed sixth in the final, her omission from the 100m lineup further deepened her resentment and disillusionment with the federation.
According to the rules governing international allegiance switches, she may need to observe a mandatory waiting period before representing Turkey in international competitions, although she appears to also qualify for an exemption.
An investigation that leads nowhere
Though an investigative committee was set up by Nigerian sports authorities to probe what transpired in Paris, nothing much came out of it.
According to PREMIUM TIMES, the recommendation that Ofili should be compensated with $5,000 and a letter of apology was ignored. Aside from the redeployment of Rita Mordi (the then AFN scribe), who was indicted in the committee report, the Technical Director, Samuel Onikeku, who was also indicted, has since returned to the AFN board, though he is no longer the Technical Director.
We won’t block her switch – AFN
As of Sunday, 22 June, Ofili is still officially listed under Nigeria on the World Athletics website, but in its reaction to the reports about Ofili’s switch of allegiance, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) while describing the reports as shocking and heartbreaking, said it will not block her move.
AFN President Tonobok Okowa told journalists on Sunday that the federation first heard about the development through the media, just like every other Nigerian.
“Just like every other sports-loving person in Nigeria, on the continent and beyond, I and the newly elected board read and heard her desire to change nationality from the media,” Mr Okowa said. “If this is true, it is sad, disheartening and painful.”
Okowa, who disclosed that the AFN under him has been working assiduously to forestall the reoccurrence of the travail Ofili went through, explained that, “Look at the number of tests the AFN conducted under my watch—we funded sixty per cent of the tests carried out before the Paris Games. There were no doping violations or anything of the sort.”
He also revealed that Ofili had already received her training grant for the year, further underscoring the federation’s commitment to supporting her.
However, all efforts to reconnect with the athlete have reportedly failed.
“She is a promising athlete with huge potential,” Mr Okowa said. “She has prevented the Federation from reaching her, and all efforts to heal the wounds caused by the 100m Paris Olympic Games omission have proved abortive.”
“From the moves we have been making to get her fully prepared and back to the big athletics family and her response, it’s also clear that she had been preparing and working on her new-found Turkish love. She is old enough to decide what’s best for her, but it is painful and hard to take for us. However, we will not stop her-she is still our child, sister and daughter,” the AFN President added.
Not the first to trade patriotism for careerism
For Nigeria, Ofili’s reported switch of nationality is a monumental loss of one of its finest and most promising young sprinters. The development raises concerns about the state of its athletics system and whether the country is expediting reforms to halt the ongoing athletes’ brain drain.
If eventually her nationality switch is confirmed, Ofili will join the long list of fellow compatriots who have ditched Nigeria to ply their trade in another nation where they are respected and exalted.
Gloria Alozie dumped Nigeria for Spain, Francis Obikwelu switched allegiance to Portugal, while Femi Ogunode pitched his tent with Qatar after complaints of poor handling by AFN.
Annette Nneka also suffered the same ordeal as Ofili at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. She switched allegiances to the USA and won Silver in the Hammer throw at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Many other Nigerian athletes are now running for other countries in the Middle East, including Kemi Adekoya and Salwa Eid Naser (Ebelechukwu Agbapuonwu) who are now representing Bahrain.
What Nigerians are saying about her imminent switch
No sooner had the news of her imminent switch of allegiance broken than Nigerians began to share their thoughts on her decision.
“Unpopular Opinion: So I’m not against athletes switching nationality, but not at senior level.
FOL, whether we accept or not, Nigeria still made Ofili from youth till she became a household name. Without the discovery in Nigeria, you won’t be recognised internationally,” Funmilayo said
In his reply to Funmilayo’s take, ‘Dayo wrote: “I’ve been seeing variations of this ‘Nigeria made her’ nonsense and I’m asking how?
The only institution that can lay claim to Favour Ofili’s success is the Louisiana State University, cos they trained her.
Tell me Nigeria’s contribution to her success.”
“Nigeria is so base that it won’t surprise me if all of this that’s happened with Favour Ofili was based on something stupid like ethnicity or somebody thinking she didn’t greet them well,” Saratu quipped
“We watched in passive silence when Favour Ofili was treated as persona non grata when she complained about her non-registration for the 100m, we made memes of her tears, now we want to cry, lament, & talk about patriotism? Why would anyone stay in a toxic and destructive relationship,” media personality, Edafe Mathew wrote.
“The person that omitted Favour Ofili’s name still has their job and as a matter of fact they elected the same members of the Federation again this year after the shitshow in Paris Olympics.
Wishing Favour continued success,” Lola said.
“Thank you, Favour Ofili, for prioritising your career and not letting Nigeria ruin it for it. Like Francis Obikwelu, who switched to representing Portugal after Nigeria messed him up.
There’s no need to be loyal to a country being run by old idiots. Go out and represent other serious, organised, and ambitious countries, and if, as a Nigerian, you don’t understand these athletes’ decisions, then you’re a big hypocrite,” Buchi Laba quipped.
Final thought
Not many people will chastise or pillory Ofili for her decision. A nation that does not put its people first and treat them with respect and dignity will lose them to nations that cherish and harness their talent and potential.
One of the reasons Nigeria is the way it is is the lack of consequences for action and until people who are driving our young, promising and talented athletes out of the country and pushing them into the warm embrace of nations, who know these athletes’ worth, are severely punished we will remain stuck in this abyss impunity and backwardness.
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