The worst kept secret is finally out of the bag: Team Nigeria will not participate in the 2025 World Relays scheduled to hold in Guangzhou, China between May 10 and 11.
Reason: The team failed to secure visas for its athletes and officials from the Chinese embassies in Abuja and the United States. The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) had planned to arrive in Guangzhou on May 5 to start practicing baton exchange and to acclimatise in the Asian country five days before the flag off of the relays. But a combination of untidy protocol arrangements and Chinese policies ensured that the mission became impossible.
A source close to The Guardian said that the Nigerian team failed to submit its application for visas for processing before the Chinese Labour Day celebrations from May 1 to May 5.
“Aside the Chinese celebrations, the current political situation between China and the West also affected the process as the hosts were not ready to process the documents expressly as we pleaded with them to do,” the source said.
Even before the team decided to withdraw from the relays, some of the athletes, including Favour Ofili and Udodi Onwuzurike, had earlier pulled out of the competition due to different reasons.
Ofili specifically said she would not honour any national assignment until the Paris 2024 Olympics fiasco, which made her to miss the women’s 100 metres at the Games, is resolved with culprits punished as recommended by a committee set up by former Sports Minister, John Owan Enoh.
The committee also recommended that she should be paid $5,000 as compensation for the error in omitting her name from the women’s 100m race. Onwuzurike, on the other hand, is said to be busy with his studies during the period. Team Nigeria planned to field a 17-athlete squad for the event.
The team announced by the AFN featured nine women and eight men, who were expected to compete in four events: the men’s and women’s 4x100m, mixed 4x100m, and mixed 4x400m relays.
Among the athltes that were listed for the event are Favour Ashe, Alaba Akintola, Karlington Anunagba, Udodi Onwuzurike, Fola Olaoye, and Usheoritse Itsekiri for the men’s 4x100m.
Ofili topped the women’s 4x100m team, which also had Tobi Amusan, Rosemary Chukwuma, Umukoro Success, Tiana Eyakpobeyan, and Jennifer Chukwuka. The mixed 4x100m relay team comprised Favour Ashe, Alaba Akintola, Udodi Onwuzurike, Ofili, Chukwuma and Umukoro. In the mixed 4x400m squad are Patience Okon George, Chidi Okezie, Omolara Ogunmakinju, Samson Nathaniel, and Emmanuel Ojeli.
