Former Head Coach of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Seigha Porbeni, has said that the problems affecting the growth of the country’s athletics are huge and would continue to lead to poor results in international championships.

For the first time in over 20 years, Nigeria finished outside the top three at the recently concluded 24th African Senior Athletics Championships in Accra, Ghana. The 41-member contingent could only win nine medals, including one individual gold (through Tobi Amusan in women’s 100m hurdles) and three in the relays, despite the absence of many key athletes from other Africa countries.

Diagnosing issues affecting athletics, Porbeni said yesterday that “the problem boils down to impunity among numerous athletes, creating silent personality clashes.”

He also said that the standards have so been reduced that the country makes do with anything. He also pointed at poor welfare as part of the reasons why athletes no longer rise to the challenge posed by their more funded contemporaries from other countries.

Porbeni, a former Director of Sports in Delta State, said: “There are acute, protracted lack of funds flow, and absence of sponsorship resulting in poor welfare for both athletes and coaches.”

He also pointed at lack of competitions and the few poorly organised AFN meets, with borrowed timing devices and inadequate numbers of officiating officials, as part of the reasons for the poor outing in recent times.

“Most AFN organised competitions usually fall short of World Athletics standards. AFN organised meets lack drug tests and hardly pay cash rewards to victorious athletes. All these issues end up affecting the athletes and eventually destroy the ecosystem of athletics in the country.

“Coaches invited to camps, who eventually make international trips, are paid their allowances, sometimes years after returning from the competition, at a heavily short-changed rate in naira rather than the usual dollar, while the federation’s top officials get their money almost immediately.

“To put it conclusively is that, there is a systematic and strategic attempt to frustrate both athletes and coaches in Nigeria. It is just a portion of the resultant effect we are seeing today.”

Porbeni, a former Director of Sports at the University of Ibadan, said that for athletics to rise above the current mediocrity, the AFN must become autonomous with its own secretary general, who should only be answerable to the AFN president and the board.

“There must be aggressive sponsorship drive and steady inflow of a robust government yearly budget,” Porbeni stated.