The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has been ordered to pay athlete Favour Ofili the sum of $5,000 as compensation for omitting her name from an event she was supposed to participate in at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Investigative Committee set up by the former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Senator John Owan-Enoh on the negative exposure to Nigeria at the Paris Olympics gave the order in its full report which was made public on Monday.
According to the the report signed by the committee chairman and popular sports journalist, Dr. Mumini Alao, and submitted to Senator Owan-Enoh, “evidence revealed that the Secretary General of the AFN, Mrs. Rita Mosindi, was negligent in her duty of communicating to the Ministry of Sports Development and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) information about Favour Ofili’s event status in a reliable and timely manner. Mrs. Mosindi should be penalized by the appropriate authority.
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“Conclusive evidence also revealed that the Technical Director of AFN, Mr. Samuel Onikeku demonstrated poor judgement by not reporting nor acting on information about the non-registration of his own athlete, Favour Ofili, for the women’s 100 meters event when he first got a “hint” of the “rumour.”
According to the report, Ofili’s situation might have been rescued if the technical director had reported or acted immediately on the information that he received.
The report added that Onikeku should as a result be sanctioned by the Board of the AFN of which he is a member.
“The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) by vicarious implication should pay the athlete, Favour Ofili, a symbolic compensation of N8million Naira only (about $5,000 US Dollars) for the disappointment and depression that she suffered on account of her omission from the women’s 100 meters event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” the report demanded.
It also asked that Mr. Samuel Fadele and Mr. Emmanuel Nweri of the NOC should be warned not to rely on social media applications as a means of important official communication in the future.
The report pointed out that physical documents and/or Emails remain the acceptable standards for official communication.
