- The AFN did not speak on allegations of ferrying more officials to Tokyo than athletes in a seemingly interminable abuse of privileges and concessions.
- The pattern of foreign travels by public and civil servants since the present government came to power has been nothing but jamborees and wasteful junkets
The Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) is in the news again and, as expected, for the wrong reason. A video and a news report on its handling of the nation’s participation in the ongoing 2025 World Athletics Championship have put the Federation in the crosshairs of Nigerians. The video that sparked the anger of many netizens showed the difference in quality and quantity of kits and gears to be worn by Nigerian athletes and those of the United States athletes.
The USA athletes are not only spoilt for choice regarding the sheer quantity of gears available to each athlete but also superb and superior quality. Everything needed for comfort and success by way of an athlete’s outfit was produced. The Nigerian athletes, on the other hand, were provided with disturbingly paltry kits that do not benefit an amateur athlete, let alone professionals with many medals and honours to their names. Tobi Amusan, a world record holder and reigning 100m hurdles champion, lamented the quality and quantity of kits and gear provided for the athletes who are taking part in the championship in Tokyo.
Amusan, in a Snapchat post on Friday night, lamented that while athletes from other countries got full large bags of competition gear, Nigerian athletes were handed “small nylon bags” with just two subpar and inferior outfits. ‘’Abeg which country dey find athletes?’’ she asked rhetorically, adding that “this country will steadily embarrass you. Una come say make people nor switch allegiance? Una never ready!”
Before the kits controversy, reports had emerged that the AFN failed to register at least fifteen athletes who were supposed to be at the tournament and that Nigeria had more officials at the championship than athletes. The kits saga only further exposed the rot and corruption among officials of the AFN. It is a naked fact that in Nigeria we hardly believe rumours until they are officially denied. No sooner had the video of Amusan lamenting the type of gears provided to athletes than the AFN, in a statement on Saturday, debunked her claims.
The AFN president, Tonobok Okowa, said there is no truth in the claims of Amusan. According to him, the Federation delivered the complete kit in line with its agreement with Hiracer, the global sportswear company supplying gear to 20 other participating nations. She also claimed that Amusan got preferential treatment compared to her teammates as she flew in business class while other athletes travelled in economy. He added that that was the only request she made.
Many would have accepted the clarifications made by AFN if it did not have a well-documented history of poor treatment of athletes and hanging them out to dry when it matters most. This distasteful and abhorrent treatment of these athletes has forced many to switch allegiance. From Favour Ofili to Blessing Okagbare, athletes have recounted how the Federation treated them unfairly and undermined their chances of triumph in championships. The athletes succeed despite the AFN not because of it. Ofili recently switched allegiance to Turkey over administrative failure, institutionalised incompetence, and corruption.
The AFN’s response to Amusan’s video is as flimsy as it is pedestrian. It is either that the company handling the athletes’ kits is incompetent, poor and inefficient, or the AFN is not interested in the well-being of the athletes; it is either more of the latter or both. It is not about the athletes getting the full complement of kits. Let’s take the words of the AFN president over Amusan and assume without conceding that the full kits were indeed delivered, something still has to be said for the quality of kits displayed by Amusan in her video, which then gives a glimpse into how other gears and kits will look.
Okowa saying the athletes also got spike shoes for free is just him clutching at straws. Except he is saying that athletes buying their own shoes is completely normal and they should be thankful they got one for free. His claim that only the track and field star flew in the first class while other athletes were in economy. Why did they accede to her request to fly in business class while her colleagues were in economy? Such a concession can’t be exclusive to only one athlete, can it? And it can’t possibly be that other athletes willingly pass up an opportunity to fly halfway across the world in comfort and luxury and instead choose the relative discomfort and minimalism of economy class? Shouldn’t all athletes, regardless of status, travel in the same flight class?
The chairman of the Federation was silent on the non-registration of athletes who were supposed to be at the championship. Sahara Reporter reported that athletes who duly and automatically qualified to be at the championship were excluded from the final list, leaving the Nigerian delegation with more officials than athletes. Athletes left out include: Kelly Ufodima (200m), Tima God-Bless (100m & 200m), Ella Onojuvwevwo (400m) and Temitope Adeshina (High Jump). Nigeria will effectively not be fielding any relay team at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
Meanwhile, the failure to prepare and register Nigeria’s relay teams denied other athletes automatic entry into the championships, among them Alaba Akintola, Itsekiri Itseoritshe, Fakorede Adekalu, Olayinka Olajide, Justina Eyakpobayen, and several others in the 4x100m and 4x400m/Mixed Relay categories.
The AFN did not speak on allegations of ferrying more officials to Tokyo than athletes in a seemingly interminable abuse of privileges and concessions. Its action is not all too surprising. The pattern of foreign travels by public and civil servants since the present government came to power has been nothing but jamborees and wasteful junkets. All of them at the taxpayers’ expense. They have become one of many avenues through which public funds are laundered abroad. This is not to mention the scandalous stowing away of many Nigerians during such trips. Our primitive appetite for wastage and squandered riches must be appreciated in light of very small, modest but efficient delegations from countries far richer and more developed than us to the sporting event.
In 2021, Samsung, the Olympic sponsor, gave its flagship smartphone, Galaxy S21 5 G, to all accredited athletes, but Nigerian officials collected them in bulk and refused to give the phones to the athletes. In 2016, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) wanted to send $15,000 as Nigeria’s athletes’ participation allowance to the AFN, but instead sent $150,000 due to an error. When the error was discovered, the IAAF demanded that the excess be returned to balance its books, but the AFN told the organisation that the money had disappeared. These are only a few examples of many past unscrupulous, covetous and callous actions of Nigeria’s sport administrators, especially the AFN.
Just as previous transgressions and indiscretions of the AFN were swept under the carpet, this latest litany of corrupt and unscrupulous acts of sport administrators is expected to go under the radar. The issue here is not just wasteful use of public resources but the aggregation of abhorrent actions and decisions that undermine and impede the nation’s participation and success at sporting events. No thanks to the failure of these shady officials to do their jobs.
The mercurial President John F Kennedy of the u.s once intoned that every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is also true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on. In Nigeria, corruption grows according to our willingness to condone it. We’ve always known that the seat of power is enervated by the numbing level of corruption in the country; the problem always is what to do about it.
Discussion about this post