Nwachukwu spearheads Nigeria’s battle for first 400m gold since 1987

Dubem Nwachukwu will Monday evening lead two other Nigerian athletes to begin the battle to rewrite Nigeria’s history in the 400m event at the African Games. Nigeria has not won the 400m gold since Innocent Egbunike ran a 44.23 Games record to win in Nairobi, Kenya in 1987. The closest Nigeria has come after that was the silver medal finish by the trio of Sunday Bada (1991 and 1995), Clement Chukwu (1999) and Tobi Tobi Ogunmola (2015).                                                     Sikiru Adeyemi will set the team rolling when he runs from lane seven in the opening heat of the first round heats. He will be seeking one of the three automatic slots for the semifinals.                         Chidi Okezie will run in the second heat while Nwachukwu has been drawn to run from lane eight in the fourth of six first round heats.