Former Head coach of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Seigha Porbeni, has described as a “major achievement” the 9.84 seconds achieved by U.S.-based Nigerian sprinter Kanyinsola Ajayi at the weekend.
 
Ajayi made history in the men’s 100m at the NCAA East Regionals as he powered to a new Personal Best (PB) time of 9.84s (0.4) to win his race and qualify for the NCAA Championships.
 
He broke the Nigerian record of 9.85s set by Olusoji Fasuba in 2006.
 
Ajayi is also now the fastest man in the world so far in 2026, taking over the World Lead.
 
Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, Porbeni said: “This further proves that we have always had great coaches and talented athletes.
 
“Our problem is the administrators’ inability to provide an adequate competitive atmosphere and enviable welfare packages. We cannot provide quality competitions that would inspire the corporate bodies jostling for a space to come into athletics.
 
“Even before Fasuba, Okagbare, Igor, Oduduru, we had the Ezenwas, Agbebaku, Falilat, Onyali, and several others too numerous to mention. It is the high value placed on sports by the administrators that translates to great performances.”
 
According to him, many athletes are from a below-average financial level.

“Yet they are now expected to transport, accommodate, and feed themselves to competitions.

They have to procure spikes running shoes that run into hundreds of thousands of naira for themselves. They are now expected to procure their international passport to go and represent their motherland.
 
“This is to say that over 80 per cent of discovered talents, future Ajayis and Fasubas are lost before their first National Youth Games.”