Ofili isn’t the problem—she’s the warning sign we ignored: Ngerem’s shocking truth about Nigerian sports

In a fiery and unflinching interview on M4S TV, Dan Ngerem, former President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), issued a dire warning: Nigeria’s sports system isn’t just broken—it’s collapsing.

Speaking with a mix of urgency and frustration, Ngerem described a nation overflowing with talent but paralyzed by neglect and mismanagement.

Young athletes are discovered, nurtured to the edge of greatness, only to be abandoned at their moment of need. The most haunting example: Paralympians stranded in airports, forgotten despite their global achievements.

He spotlighted the case of elite sprinter Favour Ofili, reportedly leaving Nigeria to represent Turkey. According to Ngerem, her departure isn’t about financial gain—it’s a desperate escape from a country that treats its champions like liabilities rather than national treasures.

‘We develop talent from primary school to elite level, then forget them once the cameras stop rolling,’ he said grimly.

Ngerem didn’t hold back in his critique of the country’s sports planning. He called it ‘epileptic’—a system that springs to life around major competitions, then sinks back into dormancy. No follow-up, no long-term development, no support structures.

‘We go for competitions, we return, and then the whole system sleeps,’ he said. ‘It’s a vicious cycle of waste and abandonment.’

With startling clarity, Ngerem described a budgeting nightmare. Nigeria releases billions of naira ahead of major events, with no performance benchmarks, no accountability, and no sustainable return.

Officials travel in droves, while the athletes who should be the core of the investment are undertrained, unsupported, and exposed.

‘We waste huge sums on flash-in-the-pan competitions while our athletes struggle to find decent training tracks.’

Perhaps most crucially, Ngerem urged Nigerians to rethink how they view sports. Not as a charitable government endeavor—but as a serious industry that demands investment, structure, and strategy.

He lamented that without reform, corporate partners and international backers will keep their distance.