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  • AFN mourns legendary athletics coach Momah

    AFN mourns legendary athletics coach Momah

    The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), has learnt with great sadness of the passing of former national athletics’ coach Harrison Momah.

    Momah, died in the early hours of Saturday, March 1st, in Ilorin, Kwara State. He was 83 years.

    AFN President, Chief Tonobok Okowa, has led the athletics fraternity in mourning Momah.

    “I am deeply saddened and shocked to learn of the passing of Harrison Momah,” the AFN President said. “To the athletics fraternity, Harrison Momah who helped raise top athletes in the past is not just a coach but a true friend and a very patriotic Nigerian.

    “Through his knowledge, Momah, set the pace for the development of Nigeria athletics by giving his time and resources to the sport we all love.”

    Read Also: Onikeku out as AFN dissolves all sub-committees

    Momah discovered and groomed a good number of Nigerian elite athletes back in the golden era of Nigerian track and field; and at various times he coached the Nigerian team at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and African Games.

    He retired from coaching 15 years ago after grooming a generation of Nigerian athletes including the likes of late Sunday Bada,Olapade Adenekan,Olu Sule,Taiwo and Kehinde Aladefa,Omotayo and Omolade Akinremi,Bisi Afolabi, Airat Bakare,Angela Atede,Saidat Onauga and many others.

    “We shall always remember Harrison Momah as a humble, patriotic, wise and passionate athletics enthusiast and a coach who dedicated his life to raising the standards of athletics in Nigeria and sports in general.

    “May God Almighty touch and sustain the bereaved family during this period of grief and may the soul of Harrison Momah, rest in eternal peace,” said Okowa.

  • Onikeku out as AFN dissolves all sub-committees

    Onikeku out as AFN dissolves all sub-committees

    Samuel Onikeku has been removed as head of the technical sub-committee and technical director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria ( AFN).

    Onikeku is one of the two AFN principal officials indicted by an Investigative Committee set up by the former Sports Development Minister, John Owan Enoh, to investigate Nigeria’s negative exposure at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

    His removal followed the dissolution of all sub-committees put in place in April this year as announced by President of the AFN, Tonobok Okowa, during an executive board meeting of the federation on Saturday.

    Although no reason was given for the dissolution, competent sources close to the Federation revealed it may not be unconnected with the indictment of Onikeku by the Ministerial Investigative Committee and a blanket dissolution of all sub-committees may have been done to give him a soft landing.

    Onikeku was indicted by the Investigative Committee who viewed his inability to report the ‘hint’ he got and the ‘rumour’ he heard about Favour Ofili’s non-registration for the Paris 2024 Olympics 100m event as ‘poor judgement’ especially with his position as the Technical Director of the AFN at the time and also as a Chief Superintendent of Customs.

    “The Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Samuel Onikeku, should be sanctioned by the Board of AFN – of which he is also a member – for not reporting the “hint” and “rumour” respectively that he heard about the non-registration of the athlete, Favour Ofili, for the 100 meters event.

    “Technical Director Samuel Onikeku is a Chief Superintendent of Customs, a senior officer in the Nigerian Customs Service. He said he didn’t report what he heard about Ofili’s omission because he didn’t want to be involved in any trouble and that, as a Para-Military officer, he only obeys the command that he is given.

    Read Also: Obasa Games has come to stay, says Lagos Speaker

    “Our Committee is strongly of the view that the AFN Technical Director made a poor judgement by not reporting such an important “hint” or “rumour” about his own athlete’s omission from an Olympic Games event, even if only to cross-check its veracity or otherwise,” the Investigative Committee wrote.

    Also indicted by the Investigative Committee was Rita Mosindi, the Secretary General of the Federation, for negligence.

    “The Secretary General of Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Rita Mosindi should be penalized by the appropriate authority for negligence in her duties. She was unable to provide convincing evidence to our Committee to support her claim that she submitted important documents relating to the registration of the athlete, Favour Ofili in the 100 meters, to the Ministry of Sports Development and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC).

    “Rita Mosindi’s reliance on social media WhatsApp messaging as the only means of official communication does not speak well of her competence as an administrative officer,” the Investigative Committee also wrote in its recommendations.

    Recall an AFN audit committee had also indicted Mrs Mosindi in its report of October 2023 for lacking the capacity to act as the chief administrative and financial head of the AFN.

    “The Secretary General should refund all monies spent without budgets and approvals and the Federal Ministry of Sports should urgently redeploy the Secretary General as she has proved not to have the capacity to head the secretariat of the federation and be its chief administrative and accounting officer,” the AFN audit Committee wrote as part of its recommendations to the board of the federation.

  • Paris 2024:Amike offers AFN tips  for podium finishes 

    Paris 2024:Amike offers AFN tips  for podium finishes 

    Former 400m hurdles star, Henry Amike wants the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) to take the bull by the horns to ensure podium finishes at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

    Nigeria placed third in the Senior Athletics Championship held in Douala, Cameroon recently behind South Africa and Kenya and Amike believes the performance of Team Nigeria in Douala did not inspire confidence with few weeks to the start of the Olympics.

    Read Also: Paris 2024:Spain to unleash world beaters on Falcons as Injury knocks Ayinde out 

    He said the AFN must take the necessary steps to ensure the athletes are adequately catered for in Germany during the closed camping and are away from every distraction that could impact negatively on their performance in Paris.

    “I must state that we didn’t do well in Cameroon because knowing that we are about to go to the Olympics, we should not be playing second fiddle in Africa,” Amike told NationSport.

    “The AFN must do more to ensure that the athletes are fully focused on the closed camping in Germany. Nigeria must do well in Paris and to achieve that, the AFN and the Nigeria Olympic Committee must ensure that the build up to the Olympics is spot on.”

    Meanwhile, the AFN over weekend  released  a list of 35 athletes that will represent the country at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with World Record holder in Women 100m hurdles, Oluwatobiloba Amusan, topping the list. 

    The list comprises 18 women and 17 men also has 100m runner, Favour Ashe with 2022 Olympic Games bronze medalist in women Long Jump, Ese Brume, also part of the team.

    The men’s team apart from Ashe, has Kayinsola Ajayi, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, Chidi Okezie, Alaba Akintola, Dubem Amene, Dubem Nwachukwu, Edose Ibadin and Sikiru Adeyemi. Others are Israel Okon, Usheoritse Itsekiri, Chinecherem Nnamdi, Udodi Onwuzurike, Godson Brume, Ezekiel Nathaniel, Ifeanyi Ojeli and Samuel Ogazi. 

    For the women category, joining Amusan and Brume are Patience Okon-George, Ruth Uzoro, Prestina Ochonogor, Olayinka Olajide, Temitope Adeshina, Justina Eyakpobeyan, Rosemary Chukwuma and Favour Ofili. Joining the train to Paris are Obiageri Amechi, Chioma Onyekwere, Ashley Anumba, Ella Onojuvwevwo, Tima Godbless, Esther Joseph, Oyesade Olatoye and Omolara Ogunmakinju.

    Nigeria track and field athletes would be competing in the 100m for men and women, 200m, 100m hurdles, high jump, long jump, 400m, 800m, shot put, discus, hammer throw, javelin, four of the five relays among others in Paris. Meanwhile, the Minister of Sports, John Enoh, will on Monday, July 8, hand over the team to the Nigeria Olympic committee as they head to Germany for camping ahead of the Games in Paris.

  • AIU queries AFN over ages of four Nigerian athletes

    AIU queries AFN over ages of four Nigerian athletes

    The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has queried  the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) following discrepancies in the ages of four Nigerian athletes (names withheld) who are eligible to compete in August’s World U20 Championships in Lima, Peru. 

    The AIU  said  it ‘has identified discrepancies regarding the date of birth (DOB) for at least 4 Nigerian athletes’, noting ‘each of these athletes has at least two, and sometimes three or more, different DOBs which have been used to enter competitions at different times.’

    The body saddled with ensuring the integrity of athletics said  ‘it was  not aware of any reason why these athletes appear to have completely different, multiple DOBs. It is also not clear whether the identification documents submitted by the athletes (such as passports) are true or whether they have been forged or falsified.’

    In a letter dated June 7, 2024 and addressed to Tonobok Ojuru Okowa and Rita Moshindi, President and Secretary General, respectively, of the AFN, and signed by Brett Clothier, Head of the Athletics Integrity Unit, the AFN was given until Friday June 21, 2024 to respond to the query.

    The AIU demanded from the AFN to submit, inter-alia, the athletes current passport, all previous passports, birth certificate, national ID card, documents submitted in support of passport applications, medical records, including hospitalization records, dental records, vaccination records as well as education records including matriculation records, school end-of-term/year reports ad school examination results among others.

    Read Also: AFN re-appoints  Okorie  as Performances Director cum  Liaison Officer

    The AFN was also expected to have furnished the AIU with any correspondence between the athlete and the federation regarding their date of birth.

    One of the athletes is male and was a double champion in the U18 category at the African U18/U20 Championships last year in Ndola, Zambia while the remaining three are females viz a sprinter, an hurdler and a long/triple jumper.

    One of the female athletes had three different dates of birth while the male had a 2004 and a 2006 dates of birth. 

    Two of the athletes had different dates of birth in the AFN entry list for two of the federation’s competitions (in 2019 and 2021) but were registered by the federation with another dates of birth for the African U18/U20 championships in 2023.

  • AFN re-appoints  Okorie  as Performances Director cum  Liaison Officer

    AFN re-appoints  Okorie  as Performances Director cum  Liaison Officer

    President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Chief Tonobok Okowa, has re-appointed U.S.-based board member, Victor Okorie, as the federation’s Performance Director and Liaison Officer  in the Diaspora.

    Okorie, a Silver Medalist for Nigeria at the 2003 All African Games in Abuja, had served as AFN Performance Director between 2021 and 2023, but the position was rested alongside others when the AFN reconstituted its committees, earlier this year.

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    Okowa stated that there  was  the need for Okorie to continue with his position as Performance Director and Liaison Officer of the AFN considering his achievements between 2021 and 2023.

    Okorie worked with the Technical team for  Team Nigeria’s qualification at the 2024 World Relays in Bahamas, where the country’s athletes picked four out of five relay tickets to Paris 2024 Olympics Games.

    Okowa stated that with Okorie’s experience, coupled with his cordial relationship with the athletes in U.S and other parts of the globe, scouting young athletes for the country, the AFN decided to return him to his position as Performance Director and Liaison Officer for the country to achieve maximum performance in major competitions, particularly the fast approaching African Senior Athletics Championships in Cameroon (June 21 to 26) and the Paris Olympics holding between July and August, this year.

      “The position has been vacant, and there is no other person to fill it than Victor Okorie,” Okowa said.

  • AFN holds board meeting Dec. 10

    AFN holds board meeting Dec. 10

    The Executive Board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, the body responsible for all decisions related to the sport of athletics, as well as for the  conduct and management of the sport and its disciplines, will hold a crucial meeting on Sunday December 10.

    The meeting will deliberate on a number of issues with the ratification of the 2024 programme of activities and consideration of the report of an audit  committee which looked into the finances of the federation.

    With the African Games coming up between March 8 and 23, the federation will deliberate on how to prepare the athletics team to the Games.

    Read Also: AFN, NSSF back MTN Schools’ Athletics Championships

    In 2019, the Nigerian track and field team won the athletics event at the Games with a total of 23 medals made up of 10 gold, seven silver and six bronze  medals ahead of Kenya who won a total of 20 medals (10 gold, seven silver and three bronze medals)

    The Executive Board will also deliberate on the report of the audit committee it set up via a resolution of its board meeting of September 16, 2023.

    The Executive Board will consider the recommendations of the committee and decide on the next step(s) to be taken.

  • AFN, NSSF back MTN Schools’ Athletics Championships

    AFN, NSSF back MTN Schools’ Athletics Championships

    The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the Nigeria School Sport Federation (NSSF) have thrown their weight behind the maiden MTN Schools’ Athletics Championships, while describing it as a catalyst for grassroots sports development in the country.

    Also, the Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Nigeria, Adia Sowho has reaffirmed the company’s commitment to sports development while pledging the company’s support in ensuring that the tournament becomes a platform for youth development.

    The tournament is an initiative of Making of Champions (MoC) in collaboration with AFN and NSSF with MTN as the title sponsor of the exciting new schools’ athletics championships that will take place across four centres within the country.

    At the press conference to unveil the MTN Champs in Lagos yesterday, Sowho said the ideal of the MoC was in tandem with the company.

    “MTN is proud to be associated with the Schools’ Athletics Championships as we are passionate about developing young people and we believe this event will provide a platform for them to shine and fulfil their potential. We are also committed to developmental sports and this is our own contribution to re-inventing sports events at grassroots levels,” she said.

    Read Also: World Athletics Championships: Amusan missing as AFN names team for Budapest 2023

    She however, said that 10 top athletes from the tournament would be sponsored by MTN to be part of the MoC Academy for one year with the aim of securing scholarships for them in US or Jamaican colleges.

    For the President of AFN, Tonobok Okowa, the federation would be willing to provide the needed technical support to the event at no cost to the organisers while hailing MTN for coming to the aid of the federation in identifying and grooming talents from the grassroots. “We are more than grateful to MTN for this laudable support, and I am personally commending Bambo Akanni, founder of MoC for keeping faith with his vision as he has been one of the most consistent individual who has never requested financial support from the federation in all the programmes of MoC since I became the president of AFN. This initiative will definitely address the gap of not having competition for athletes within the age bracket of 16 to 20,” Okowa said.

    NSSF Vice President, Emmanuel Ebong assured that the federation would give unalloyed support to the event while praising MTN for supporting the idea. He however, called on other corporate bodies to support sports as this would help to impact virtues on youths across the country.

    MTN CHAMPS will host over 7,000 athletes and up to 500 Schools across the four events, with each being three-day championships, in Benin, Uyo, Ibadan and Abuja for the inaugural season, with an extra day for the Grand Final in Abuja, to bring together the best athletes discovered from the four centres.

  • Ikoyi Club 1938 grooming next generation of swimming superstars — VP

    The Vice-President, Swimming Section of Ikoyi Club 1938, Oloyede Obatoyinbo, on Tuesday said the club was aiming at producing the next generation of swimming superstars for the country.

    Obatoyinbo made the assertion in an interview with our reporter while reviewing the activities of the club in recent times and the preparation for the Ansberg Competition in G

    Newsmen  reports that Ikoyi Club recently hosted the Zenith Bank/Ikoyi Club Swimming Gala where private primary and secondary schools competed for honours.

    The swimmers from the club are also preparing to represent the country at the Swimfest Swimming Competition in Ansberg, Germany beginning on May 18.

    It is worthy of note that the Team Ikoyi Club 1938 is the defending champions of the 35 clubs competition for swimming clubs from all over the world.

    On the role young swimmers from the club could play in the development of swimming in Nigeria, Obatoyinbo said that they were more than ever ready to take the world by storm.

    “We have a couple of excellent swimmers in the club, young future medal hopeful. They have the right training, and good facilities for them to excel.

    “I am proud of these young swimmers from different ages, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-16, these are the right age for development in the sport.

    “We have been producing the right talents Nigeria needs; last year, we went to Germany to defeat all the world superstars to emerge champions of the Swimfest.

    “This is a remarkable achievement for us being world champions and we are ready to do more; this year we are going to Germany to defend the title we won last year,’’ he said.

    Read Also: Ikoyi Club fetes children at Easter

    Obatoyinbo said the club’s record on the domestic scene was also what they would latch on to make sure that the swimmers would be the national champions.

    “I must say that in the last Chief of Naval Staff ( CNS ) Championships in Oct. 2017, countrywide, we had about 24 swimmers that make up Group 1 13-14, and Group II 14-16.

    “In Group I, Ikoyi Club 1938 fielded 6 out of the 12 swimmers all over the country, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Lagos, and Ondo, this comes to mind how important our swimmers are to the national competition.

    “We are aiming to have more of our swimmers emerge to represent the country not only at national events but at the Commonwealth Games and Olympics. We want to produce gold medallist at Olympics.

    “We are also training hard to retain our position at the Ansberg tournament in Germany, our swimmers are training day and night to be in shape for the competition,’’ he said.

    On the grassroots development of swimming in the country, an enthusiast and board member of the Aquatics Federation of Nigeria, ( AFN ), Joseph Odobeatu ( OJezz ), said that the country was right on track.

    “Competitions like this is what the nation needs for the development of swimming, this affords the young swimmers the opportunity to showcase their talents.

    “Those swimmers we have seen so far here have proved beyond doubt that they are the future of the country. They are well trained while some also visit the National Stadium Swimming Pool for training.

    “With the National Stadium swimming pool coming back to life, many swimmers are gradually coming back to training. The facility is the best in the country for now.

    “We have a good measure of maintenance culture which is good for the swimmers,’’ he said.

    NAN

  • AFN Golden League: Why Lagos venue was changed

    AFN Golden League: Why Lagos venue was changed

    The Athletics Federation of  Nigeria(AFN) Technical Director, Sunday Adeleye has shed more light on  why the Golden League which was initially slated for January 26 to 27th in Lagos was moved to Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    Adeleye also noted that:  ” The excessive wind at the Yaba College of Technology would affect the times. Also, there are other technical issues that have to do with the track there. We didn’t want to have any problems with the ratification of the times run there.”

    In an interview  he added that there were more athletes in camp at the High Performance Centre in Port Harcourt hence   one of the reasons for the Port Harcout venue and the fact that  the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium has a beautiful new track which is complete.

    “All the facilities are intact and the stadium had only been used for Football hitherto, so we are now taking Athletics there as well. The stadium is covered so that takes care of the issue of excessive wind.”

    Meanwhile,  events scheduled for the two-day event include:  100m and 110m Hurdles, 10,000m (men), Long Jump (men), 5,000m (women), High Jump (women)  women’s 200m and men, men and women’s 400m, men and women’s Javelin, men and women’s Shot put, men and women’s Triple Jump, men and women’s 20km race and Decathlon.

  • Dalung unveils AFN’s new logo 

    Dalung unveils AFN’s new logo 

    The Athletics Federation of Nigeria has unveiled its new logo.

    Barrister Dalung presided over the unveiling ceremony today at the opening of the Annual General Congress of the AFN at the Nicon Luxury Hotel Abuja. 

    The logo replaces the old one that had been in use since 1944. 

    On the occasion, Barrister Dalung urged the board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria to set aside their differences and go back to the development of the sport at the grassroots.

    In his remarks, Barrister Dalung noted that the board of the AFN had the highest number of highly qualified and most tested personalities and and as such expected nothing short of qualitative leadership.

    “What is needed of you today is for you to bring qualitative leadership to drive the passion of athletics to great heights.

    “If we provide the desired leadership, other African countries will queue behind Nigeria and we will be able to shape the destiny of Africa. If we organize ourselves, Nigeria will be the economy hub of the entire West African sub region.”

    He appealed to the board members to respect one another to bring about the desired change in athletics.

    “Respect and value yourselves including the past and present leaders because a system that does not recognize history cannot secure the future. You must create space in your leadership to accommodate people of diverse opinions.

    Barrister Dalung also advised the board to begin a massive talent hunt in the rural areas and embark on training for such talents and also engage the private sector for support.

    Earlier, the President of the AFN Hon Shehu Ibrahim Gusau said that the congress which was the first in many years was convened to provide the framework for the Federation’s operation and and future.

    Hon Gusau said that following consultations in the last three months, the Federation has developed its constitution and will be tabled for amendments and ratification.

    He also spoke on efforts to rebrand and reposition the AFN as a global competitive brand.

    “I welcome you to a brand new world of athletics in Nigeria propelled by people, passion and performance.

    I promised that we shall reconstruct the sport with six national Athletics Development Centres. We hope to lay the process for the Middle and Long Distance project in Jos Plateau State while each region of the nation shall have same center. It is our ambition to create  job opportunities for our coaches and train 240 new coaches in the next 18months to meet the requirements of these centres.”

    The plan to build an athletics resort was also unveiled while the President also announced that every personnel in the Federation will be insured from the new season and a reliable data base with biometric capability put in place.

    In attendance were all the board members including three former Directors-General Dr Amos Adamu, Dr Patrick Ekeji, Otumba Gbenga Elegbeleye and the President, Nigeria Olympic Committee Engr Habu Gumel.