The Nation Newspaper

Tag: AFN

  • IAAF World Relay Championships Bahamas: AFN set to pick final team

    The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has commended the Nigerian contingent to the National Athletics trials held in Nairobi last week and also reiterated its position on picking the country’s team for the IAAF World Relay Championships slated for May 2-3 in the Bahamas at the AFN 2nd All-Comers Competition holding on Wednesday  at the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos.

    In a chat with the Nationsports, the AFN Technical Director/Chairman Tech Committee, Navy Commodore Omatseye Nesiama noted that the athletics body hopes the feat performed by the country’s contingent to Nairobi would indeed  strengthen Team Nigeria for the World Relays scheduled for next month.

    Nesiama said: “Our girls placed 1st and boys third at the trials in Nairobi. The girls are good to go and in fact, can strengthen Team Nigeria. They were camped for two weeks before going for the trials in Kenya.  By Wednesday, they would be running in Lagos where we intend to pick the final team for the World Relay in Bahamas. In the same vein, the African Youth Athletics Championships final Selection will also be taking place and  also selection for the CAA Golden Grand Prix tagged Warri Relays on Wednesday.”

    Meanwhile, Nesiama has  advised that all proposed athletes and coaches for the African  Youth Athletics Championships are to present themselves with their International Passports  for the selection trials as team camping shall commence immediately after the trials.

    He said, this is in line with the AFN programme of activities, all states, military, para-military, higher institutions and clubs are invited to send their entries for the 2nd All-Comers Competition.

  • 19th African Senior Athletics Championships, Morocco: Can Nigeria dominate the continent again?

    19th African Senior Athletics Championships, Morocco: Can Nigeria dominate the continent again?

    Team Nigeria is presently basking in the euphoria of a successful outing at the concluded 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow Scotland.

    From creating records to producing new talents, the list seems endless as Nigeria hopes to retain the coveted crown won at the 2012 African Championships held in Porto-Novo, Benin Republic. It remains to be seen whether Nigeria athletes will live up to their billings as the defending champions of the event.

    However, the country anticipates that her queen of the tracks, Blessing Okagbare, who won two gold medals and a silver medal in Glasgow would continue with the outpour of medals. In Glasgow, Blessing Okagbare broke the Commonwealth Games while power lifters even broke world records. So it was indeed a huge achievement for Team Nigeria in Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

    Thirty Nigerian athletes left for  Morocco in batches while the President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria(AFN), Solomon Ogba had departed the shores of the country on Friday to Marrakesh to oversee the affairs of the team. Okagbare had convincingly proven her critics wrong when she ran effortlessly to create a new record of 10.85secs at the Games  to emerge as the new record holder of the women’s 100m  at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held  in Glasgow, Scotland.

    Okagabare broke Debbie Ferguson’s 12-year record of 10.91 secs. But on another note, few had felt that Okagbare did not have a strong contender in her regular rivals, the Jamaicans who were conspicuously missing at the Games. However athletics buffs were quick to point out that Veronica Campbell did give a good account of herself having run 11.03 secs which was thwarted by Okagbare.

    Many were of the opinion that if   Okagbare’s strongest rival, Shirley Ann Frazer pryce had been in attendance, it would still have been no one’s game . At the end of the race, Okagbare proved her dominance on the tracks as she broke a 12-year-old record.

    However, at the last Africa championships held in Benin Republic, two years ago, five hundred and sixty-nine athletes from forty-seven African countries had taken part in forty-four events, Okagbare had managed a silver medal owing to injuries sustained. Rudy Zang Milama of Gabon claimed the gold  medal in a time of 11.16secs. In the 200m race, Ivory Coast’s Marie Jose Ta Lou had been crowned the queen of the 200m race in a time of 23.44secs.

    It is expected that that this time around, Okagbare should crown all her efforts with the ability to dominate  the African scene by outpacing her African rivals by winning all her races and  possibly create new records on the continent.

    In the men’s category, this might prove to be difficult as the country’s male athletes have failed to find their rhythm on the tracks. Would they be able to salvage the little pride left of them on the tracks? It is no news that they have failed to hug success in recent time. Mark Jelks seem to be the only hope for the country. But Coach Saheed Akinpelu, who gives coaching tutorials to most of the country’s  quatermilers, chances that any African country will beat Nigeria is very remote. He was of the opinion that  competition for medals will be tough, especially since this edition of the African Championships also serves as trials for the money spinning IAAF World Cup. The competition will also serve  as preparation to African athletes for the next intercontinental cup which is planned on 13 and 14 September 2014 in Marrakech.

    The newest kid on the block, Ese Brume is expected to lift the train in the jumps considering her achievement at the just concluded Commonwealth Games just as Tosin Oke is expected to achieve a greater feat at the championships as the defending champion of the African championships in triple jumps just as Sade Abugan is expected to do the contry proud in the 400m race. Abugan does not have a strong contender this time around as her hottest rival is currently on suspension for drug related offence.

    Nigerian coaches are indeed optimistic that most of the medals will come from sprints, relays, jumps, hurdles, quatermiles and throws.

    At the 2012 Athletics championship held Porto Novo, Benin Republic, Nigeria had topped the medals table with ten gold, six silver and five bronze medals while Kenya was first runners up with nine gold, nine silver and nine bronze medals. South Africa clinched the third position with six gold, ten silver and eight bronze medals.

  • NGEREM WANTS AFRICAN BID

    NGEREM WANTS AFRICAN BID

    DAN NGEREM, a former President, Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN), has urged Nigeria to back the bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, only if it stood to benefit from the bidding city.

    Ngerem, reacting to Durban’s bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Lagos on Friday, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that South Africa’s bid should not be seen as an “African bid’’.

    Edmonton, Canada is also bidding for the same Games. “I would have loved to say this is fantastic because I would have to characterise it as an African bid for the Commonwealth Games so that it can come to our shores for the very first time.

    “But you see, they say those who must come to equity must come with clean hands and I don’t think South Africa’s hands have been clean in terms of their relationship with Africa, particularly with Nigeria.

    “We bided for Commonwealth Games. If you remember a few years ago in Colombo, we didn’t get optimal support from most African countries and South Africa in particular. So, it appears our bid was booby-trapped as it were.

    “Because South Africa was hoping to bid and forget about bidding for Commonwealth Games what South Africa is really interested in is the Olympic Games because they successfully hosted the World Cup in 2010.

    “The fundamental question to ask is that what Nigeria benefitted in the 2010 World Cup if you tell me to give a guess, we benefitted nothing,” he said.

    “And if you look at the historical antecedents of South Africa and Nigeria, this country has practically spilled blood to make South Africa what it is today. Thabo Mbeki used to live near, in fact the other street near this Lagos Motor Boat Club; most South African countries are making mega billions in Nigeria. I can’t see in the horizon remotely any Nigerian company that is doing anything significantly in South Africa.

    “So,I have taken a long circuitous route to come to my answer so that I can put things on a balance of equity. I have not seen value added from South Africa. It cannot be a one-way traffic so, Nigeria must begin to de-mask and ask for commensurate support for our support on the continental level. It is a simple diplomacy, simple international relations.”

    Ngerem said that Nigeria should re-evaluate its relationship in terms of sports with other African counties, especially South Africa so that its interest would be safe guarded.

    “Nigeria cannot be playing big brother and big father all through its history without getting anything commensurate in return. And if you look at the whole gamut of West Africa and even beyond, Zimbabwe and all that, Nigeria has always been at the epicenter of helping these countries but when we ask for a modicum of support, they always fall short. So, this time around we will be big brother but we must ask questions as to what people are bringing to the table. So, that is my problem with this “African” bid for the Commonwealth Games.

    “I would have loved to embrace it but as a patriotic Nigerian, I will love to know what South Africa will put on the table having practically, surreptitiously in a kind of subterfuge booby-trapped our bid for the same Commonwealth Games in Colombo.

    “So, we should re-base our sports in terms of our relationship with South Africa because don’t forget, no matter which way you look at it South Africa is Nigeria’ competitor in this continent.

    “I believe that apart from the U.S., Nigeria is also, given our population, given our natural talents the biggest country in terms of sports in Africa. So, we need to re-base our relationship with the rest of Africa particularly, with South Africa.”

    In Colombo, Sri Lanka, the 71 Commonwealth Games Associations voted in favour of Glasgow (Scotland) with 47 votes, to Abuja, Nigeria’s 24 on Nov. 9, 2009.

    Virtually all other continents had hosted the Games — Jamaica (Caribbean) in 1966, Malaysia (Asia) in 1995 and New Delhi, India (Asia), the immediate-past edition in 2010.

  • AFN unveils Eric Campbell as high performance coach

    AFN unveils Eric Campbell as high performance coach

    Athletes that will be competing in any championships organised by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) will have to secure a valid licence through affiliation with clubs or states before they will be allowed to participate in its competitions.

    AFN President, Solomon Ogba, made this disclosure at the unveiling of the American High Performace coach she employed. The coach, Eric Campbell, was announced officially as the new high performance director of the federation. Ogba used the occasion to announce its year 2014 programme.

    Speaking further on the licensing of athletes, Ogba said the idea is already bearing fruits as over 800 athletes have complied by registering with the federation.

    The federation also promised to ensure that athletes in the Nigerian athletics circuit will remain drug free and therefore has made it compulsory that the top 10 athletes on the federation’s list of events should henceforth complete and submit their athletes’ whereabouts information to AFN secretariat every quarter in line with international regulations on doping.

    In the same vein, the federation said coaches who register any athlete must provide information on the whereabouts of such registered athlete at short notice, warning any violation will be met with severe sanctions.

    Campbell is expected to develop a range of programmes that will improve Nigeria’s global ranking beyond the current 19th place in the world through the application of best practices and sports science. The federation has claimed they are not setting any targets for him to meet.

    AFN now has two Americans superintending its core development areas following the earlier arrival of Angie Taylor as national performance director. She came late for the briefing and was also introduced to the nation’s sporting media.

    Some of the programmes on AFN’s activities for 2014 include: the NUGA Games in Ile –Ife (February), All Nigeria Relays in Ijebu-Ode, IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland (March), Okpekpe 10kilometre Road Race in Edo State.

    Other programmes for the year include the African Youth Games in Gaborone (May), National Athletics Championship/Commonwealth Games trials in Calabar in June, Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China in August and the Aba Half Marathon in December.

  • AFN: We didn’t reject Onyali’s kits

    AFN: We didn’t reject Onyali’s kits

    The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has refuted reports in a section of the media that it rejected the kits produced for Team Nigeria athletes to the just-concluded maiden African Youth Athletics Championships in Warri.

    President of the AFN, Solomon Ogba insisted Monday that he was quoted out of context by the reporters who filed the reports on the kits.

    “There was no time that I granted any interview to any reporter during the championships in Warri that we were not satisfied with the quality of kits supplied Team Nigeria by ex international, Mary Onyali-Omagbemi,” observed the federation president.

    Ogba said that rather, the only mistake he observed in the kits supplied by Onyali-Omagbemi was that there was slight difference in the green colour Nigeria has been known with over the years.

    “I felt that as an ex-international, Onyali ought to know Nigeria’s exact green colour but I was embarrassed to see in the media that I rejected the kits because they are of poor quality. That was sheer mischief on the part of the reporters who filed such reports,” Ogba noted Monday.

    Onyali, who also spoke on the matter, expressed disgust over the reports and she is threatening to seek legal redress.

    “I will not sit back and allow anybody destroy the reputation that I have built over the years. Some persons are just out there to damage my reputation with such cheap blackmail and I, Mary, will not sit back and allow it happen without seeking legal redress,” stressed the former African queen of the track.

    While corroborating the statement by the AFN president that the only snag on the kits supplied Team Nigeria by her firm, Yali Yali, was the colour, Onyali said it was outright mischief for anybody to report that they were of poor quality.

    “I don’t buy my stuff from Aba or Onitsha markets. We get our fabrics straight from China. The manager of my company flew from California to China to get the stuff,” stressed the former Team Nigeria captain.

    The 200m African record holder said that since she went into sportswear manufacturing, “none of my clients has ever doubted the quality of my job. I have my name and integrity to protect. I told the federation that time was short between when we got the order to supply and when to deliver. If my company didn’t get the colour right, all they should have told me was to get the right colour without unnecessarily allowing reporters make an issue out of it.”

     

  • AFN begins scouting for talents as athletics take off

    AFN begins scouting for talents as athletics take off

    The Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) says it will aggressively hunt for talents at the athletics event of the 18th National Sports Festival (NSF).

    The athletic events got off to a good start on Tuesday at Teslim Balogun Stadium.

    Omatseye Nesiama, the Technical Director of AFN, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the competition that those identified would be managed by the federation.

    According to him, so far only a male talent has been spotted. He did not disclose the name but only hinted that he is competing in the 400 metres.

    “I have my eyes on him because he is very good, he looks raw but with adequate training he can become refined,’’ he said.

    Nesiama, a newly promoted Navy Commodore, however, disclosed that he had since dispatched scouts to monitor all two athletic venues for talents.

    “Even if he fails to make the final, he has potential worth our attention.’’

    Nesiama said the AFN would be targeting the athletes that were between the ages of 24 and below in the sprints, saying they would have a lot of time ahead of them.

    “We are looking at the junior category because they have a lot of time ahead of them. They will be able to perform well with time and training because of their age.’’

    The director said the federation had a series of developmental plans to improve the raw talents, saying they would commence grooming of the talents soon after the festival.