Team Nigeria’s performance at the 24th African Senior Athletics Championships, which ended on Sunday in Accra, Ghana, has been described as a 20-year low.

Top stars, including South Africa’s Gift Leotlela and Akani Simbine, Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, and Botswana’s Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo were absent in Ghana, as they chose the Diamond League in China instead. Kenya’s Mercy Adongo Oketch, a 400m runner with a season’s best of 50.14, double Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon and Ethiopia’s Medina Eisa were also absent in Accra.

Perhaps, the biggest star at the Accra championships was the reigning world record holder in the 100m hurdles, Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan.

The absence of the top stars notwithstanding, Team Nigeria, with a large contingent of 41 athletes, placed fourth on the medals table with just nine medals, including four gold.

Former board member of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Dare Esan, described the country’s ‘disastrous showing’ at the 24th African Senior Athletics Championships in Accra as the worst in 20 years.

“The outcome not only underscores the decline of Nigerian athletics, but also mirrors the unwanted record set under the Tonobok Okowa-led AFN board at the World Championships, where Nigeria failed to qualify a single relay team for the first time in history,” Esan said.

The gold medals in Accra came from one individual event and three relays. Amusan secured Nigeria’s lone individual gold, her third since debuting in 2018, while the mixed 4x400m, women’s 4x100m, and women’s 4x400m teams delivered the remaining titles.

“I expected Team Nigeria to capitalise on the absence of top stars from other African nations to dominate the 24th edition in Accra. It was so disappointing that Nigeria missed out on gold in the men’s and women’s 100m, 200m, and 400m events,” he said.

According to Esan, the men’s sprint drought continues, with the 100m last won in 2008 by Olusoji Fasuba, the 200m last claimed by Uche Emedolu in 2006, and the 400m last secured by Clement Chukwu in 1998.

“The women’s sprints tell a similar story, with Blessing Okagbare’s 2014 triumph the last in the 100m, Gloria Asumnu’s 2012 victory the last in the 200m, and Folashade Abugan’s 2014 win the only success in the 400m since Falilat Ogunkoya’s 1998 title.

The Guardian recalls that the last time Nigeria placed outside the top three spots at the African Senior Athletics Championships was in 2002, where it won just three gold, five and two bronze to place fifth.