AFN Under Fire as Athletes Protest Unpaid Allowances

The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has once again come under fire after home-based athletes staged a protest over unpaid allowances following six weeks in camp under poor conditions.

A video of the protest has gone viral, showing athletes lamenting that they were decamped without receiving their promised payments.

The athletes alleged they were given only ₦75,000 to cover transport home after weeks of training, while some received ₦100,000.

Coaches, however, were not paid at all, despite leaving their families and businesses to serve the nation.

Complaints also centered on inadequate feeding and poor living conditions, with reports that the camp hotel, said to be owned by an AFN official, often left athletes without electricity unless other guests arrived.

According to the athletes, the paltry funds provided by the National Sports Commission, who has priotized paying secondary school students as much as N3m per student, were largely spent on accommodation, leaving little for allowances.

They described the situation as humiliating, noting that even the hotel manager allegedly told them they had not paid enough to expect comfort.

AFN President Tonobok Ojuru Okowa, responding in a WhatsApp message to SportsNow, admitted the situation was unresolved but said efforts were ongoing.

‘The secretary and treasurer are trying to sort it out. I learnt that only eight of them are left,’ Okowa stated.

The incident has reignited criticism of the federation’s handling of athlete welfare, with many pointing to a recurring pattern of neglect despite Nigeria’s wealth of sporting talent.