Top officials of the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) are expected to start arriving in Nigeria this week ahead of the African U-18/U-20 Championships billed to hold in Abeokuta.
 
Already, two members of Nigeria’s gold-winning 4x400m relay squad at Sydney 2000 Olympics, Fidelis Gadzama and Enefiok Udo-Obong, have arrived in the country ahead of the championships billed for the MKO Abiola Sports Arena, Abeokuta, Ogun State from July 16 to 20.
 
While Gadzama, who is the head of the Security Sub-committee arrived from his base in the United Kingdom, Udo-Obong, who heads the Technical Sub-committee breezed in from his base in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
 
Another member of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Rosa Collins-Okah, a three-time national triple jump champion, has also breezed in from her base in Spain. Collins-Okah, who won the National Sports Festival triple jump at Makurdi ‘96, heads the ceremonial sub-committee for the CAA championships.
 
She superintended over Nigeria’s greatest achievement at the 18th World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA in 2022, where hurdler, Tobi Amusan and long jumper, Ese Brume won gold and silver medals respectively.
 
The arrival of the trio will complement the work of other members of the LOC, who are already on ground, in Abeokuta for the championships. The LOC Secretary, Sagaya Abdulmumeen, said yesterday that everything needed to host a hitch-free championships have been put in place.