‘At some point, Onikeku stopped responding to my messages, saying that he was busy with other things,’ Ofili narrates her ordeal in the hands of Nigerian athletics officials following her non-registration for 100m event at Paris 2024 Olympics

Nigeria’s reigning 100m champion, Favour Ofili says she is very much interested in why the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, and the Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC, failed to register her for the 100m event at the Paris 2024 Olympics and revealed how Samuel Onikeku, the technical director of the federation stopped responding to her messages at some point.

Ofili revealed she sent screenshots of her conversations with some Nigerians officials to the Ministerial Committee investigating her non-registration hoping it would help in fishing out the official(s) responsible for disgraceful behavior.

Ofili’s testimony to Committee is published below unedited:

I ONLY learned about my exclusion from the women’s 100 meters event when I arrived in Paris for the Olympic Games. I worked so hard to qualify for both the 100 meters and the 200 meters and I had also prepared very hard with my coach to participate in the two events and the 4X100 meters relay.

I was ready both physically and psychologically.

Before the Olympics, the Technical Director of AFN, Mr. Samuel Onikeku, called me on telephone in the United States to ask whether I would run both the 100 meters and the 200 meters. I told him ‘yes’ and he said he would register me for both events and also the 4X100 meters relay.

Therefore, I was surprised when I got to Paris and learned a few days to the 100 meters heat that my name was not entered for the event.

Immediately, I reached out by text message on WhatsApp to the Technical Director (TD) to ask why I was not on the starting list for the 100 meters. He sent me a document showing that he registered my name, so how come I’m not on the starting list for the 100 meters? That was the beginning of my problem.

For two whole days before the event would start, I was sending messages to the TD to clarify my position but he kept telling me to calm down, that he would find a solution. At some point, he stopped responding to my messages, saying that he was busy with other things, so I started calling other people that I thought might be able to help me.

I sent messages and spoke to Mr. Victor Okorie and Mr. Bola Alake amongst other people. My coach, Dennis Shaver was also reaching out to people that he thought could help me. But nothing came out of it.

Then, after some time, the TD sent me a message that I could not run the 100 meters; that they could not find a solution. That was when I decided to tell the world about my predicament on the social media.

I was frustrated that they took my hard-earned opportunity away from me. I worked really hard to qualify for the 100 and 200 meters. It took me nearly two years of hard work to achieve that objective.

I was determined to prove my worth in both events at the Olympics. But they took the chance away from me. The stress that I even went through trying to confirm whether I would run depressed me.

I couldn’t concentrate properly at training and this affected me later even in the 200 meters event. That was why I broke down crying.

I was reluctant to talk to this investigative committee because I wasn’t sure that anything would come out of it. I asked my support team for advice and that is why I invited my manager to join me for the Zoom meeting with the committee.

I have sent screenshots of my conversations to your committee. You will find the full conversation (that I had with some officials) regarding the Paris Olympics. I hope this
helps with the investigation and finding out why I was excluded because I also want to know why they did this to me.