‘When will AFN stop this marginalization of distance running events?’: Northern athletes, officials cry out

Athletes, coaches and administrators, especially from the northern part of Nigeria, have decried the continuous marginalization of the zone, especially when it comes to distance running events.

Athletes from the northern part of Nigeria dominate distance events in the country, but successive boards of the AFN have continued to ignore the track and field discipline in its programme of activities every year.

The outgoing board of the AFN led by Delta state born Tonnobok Ojuru Okowa, brother of immediate past Governor of the state, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has, like some of his predecessors, paid lip service to the development of an athletics discipline that is capable of tackling banditry and terrorism especially in the North.

‘I don’t know why the AFN has continued to treat distance runners as outcasts. There is nothing in the programme of AFN this year to suggest the administration is desirous of developing distance running.

‘To make matters worse, distance runners have been restricted to just one per state at the ongoing National Sports Festival, while an event like the marathon that thrives on numbers has also been restricted to just one per state but the sprint events have three each,’ said one of the distance runners who have been turned to a spectator at the ongoing National Sports Festival and who pleaded to be anonymous for fear of persecution.

Another asked rhetorically: ‘When will the leadership of AFN recognize what distance running can contribute to nation building? It is obvious that the majority of those on the board are short-sighted and visionless.’

Timon Gunen, the national 5000m record holder, says the AFN is systematically killing distance running events.

At the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival, the 5000m men and 10000m women are not in the timetable of events to be competed for and they are events dominated by northerners.

‘During my time, we run heats before qualifying for the final. I don’t know why they are doing this.. they are trying to kill distance running in Nigeria. I expect the technical director, Samuel Onikeku, being a former athlete to understand this and address it quickly, but nothing was done. Discussion has been on this before the festival, but it seems they are bent on killing distance running,’ said Gunen in an explosive interview to be published in the new week.

Gunen believes this can only be redressed if people who understands what distance running events bring to the table and how developing them will greatly benefit athletes from all over Nigeria can benefit from it, should get int leadership position at the Federation and not those who should be doing hotel business or doing buying and selling.

When contacted by our correspondent, Oludare Esan, a member of the outgoing board revealed how a cross-country competition billed to hold in Jalingo, Taraba state in 2022, was politicized and never saw the light of the day.

‘There was the rumour at the time that Tafida Gadzama, first vice president of the AFN, would take political advantage of it as he was the one that fought for the event to be scheduled to be held in Jalingo,’ said Esan who also revealed the AFN board was run at the whim and caprice of its president with willful violations of the Federation’s constitution.

Esan also recalls the effort made by former Sports Minister, Sunday Dare in the development of distance running.

‘I remember he approved the setting up of a committee for that and chief Tony Osheku’s proposal to organise a first cross-country event in over four decades in Jos in February 2023.

‘Unfortunately, all these came at the twilight of the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, which had Dare as Sports Minister. Since his exit, the plan has been thrown into the garbage bin first by John Enoh, the accidental Sports Minister and now by the new administration.’

‘Very few distance runners are competing on the track now. They have all been chased to the road where private individuals like Bukola Olopade and Mike Itemuagbor have been providing world class road races for the athletes. Even at that, Nigerian athletes have not benefitted that much as they have not reached the level where they can be classified as international elite athletes who, depending on their ranking can run in road races all over the world.

‘We need the Federation to organise seminars, training camps and more competitions. A few of us have been shouted down at board meetings with the cynical remark: na only you know athletics (are you the only one who understands the sport)?

‘Who would believe a Nigerian, Mohamed Abbas ran 2:16 in the Marathon in the 1990s which was a World class performance at the time but our athletes are now running 2:25 (once in the last two decades) and 2:27?

‘Who would also believe Yohanna Waziri was a competitor at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul in the Marathon?,’ Esan asked.