Julius OkorieNigerians were observing their normal Sunday Morning June 22nd 2025 and of course grappling with avalanche of bad news they have had to digest in recent times, from the killings in Benue and Enugu to that of Plateau and Borno states when it hit them like thunderbolt.
One of their brightest sprinters, Favour Ofili, has dumped the country and switched allegiance to Turkey. It was one of those stories that touch, recalling that many of them especially those with athletics bias, followed her ordeal bumper-to-bumper at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.
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The 22-year-old had an ugly face-off with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the National Olympic Committee (NOC) following administrative blunders that saw her excluded from the 100m event of the last Olympics.
The blunder of Paris was not the first to have been meted out on Ofili as a similar blunder cost her place at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, thus making a tomfoolery of the proverbial submission that thunder does not strike twice in the same place.
The sprinter, who has already communicated her intentions to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), stated that she has lost confidence in the Nigerian sports administration’s ability to protect and support its athletes at the global level. Ofili only recently shattered world record in the women’s 150m straight race, at the Adidas Atlanta City Games.
She dazzled the crowd with a phenomenal time of 15.85 seconds, erasing the previous world record of 16.23 seconds set by Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo in 2018. She became by that performance the first woman in history to complete the rarely contested 150m distance in less than 16 seconds.
Her decision to dump Nigeria has sparked fresh criticism of the AFN and NOC, whose history of administrative blunders continues to jeopardize the careers of promising Nigerian athletes.
Ofili remains one of the top-rated sprinters in Nigeria, boasting personal bests of 10.93 seconds in the 100 metres and 21.96 seconds in the 200 metres, records that position her among the elites globally.
Her potential switch to Turkey would be a significant loss to Nigerian athletics and a boost for Turkish track and field ambitions.
Unfulfilled Promise
Although in what looked like an attempt to placate her for the mother of all blunders at the Paris Olympics, the government set up a committee that investigated and indicted the AFN and NOC while awarding Ofili N8 million compensation, there are no signs that the compensation was paid even as Nigeria finished without a medal at the said Olympics.
The investigative panel that was set under former Sports Minster, Senator John Enoh was submitting its report just when the Sports ministry was being scrapped and replaced with returnee National Sports Commission. Months after the Olympics and after the report, there are no evidence to show that the order has been complied with.
Ofili,a former Louisiana State University (LSU) standout and Adidas-sponsored athlete expressed her disappointment publicly on social media during the Paris Olympics omission debacle, questioning the accountability of national federations. While she later finished sixth in the 200m final in Paris, the overall experience appeared to be a tipping point.
Following The Old Tradition
Her switch to Turkey places her among a growing list of Nigerian athletes who have chosen to represent other countries due to perceived and indeed proven lack of support and chronic mismanagement at home. Past examples include Gloria Alozie (who later ran for Spain), Francis Obikwelu (Portugal), and Femi Ogunode (Qatar), all of who now enjoy considerable successes from their adopted nations.
Annette Nneka suffered the same fate as Favour Ofili at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, she switched allegiances to the USA and won Silver in Hammer throw at Paris 2024.
Ofili is now expected to observe a mandatory waiting period before making her debut for Turkey in international competitions, though an exemption may be possible if her case for administrative negligence is strongly argued.
Funny And Unnecessary Expression Of Shock Over Ofili’s Decision
Hours after the news broke, the Athletics Federation of the Nigeria expressed shock over the Sprinter’s decision saying via its President Tonobok Okowa that it was sad and disheartening, but then added that effort made at reconciling her with the ‘family’ after the Paris blunder has not yielded fruit as “she has been preparing and working on her Turkish love.”
Seasoned sports administrator and former AFN President, Dan Ngerem, refused to join the league of those who said they were shocked following Ofili’s decision.
In a chat with Primebusines.africa he reeled out several questions seeking answers all of which point to the fact that the nation is not ready yet to check the exodus.
He asked “Why would anybody be surprised? I am not surprised. Why? Can you point out to me any sports policy document that addresses the issue of athlete’s welfare and wellbeing including that of their coaches and handlers and collateral super structures? Where is Marketing Communications Documents if anybody wants to support any athlete in any sport not just athletics? Where is the Team Nigeria concept that some of us worked so hard to put together?”
Calling A spade A Spade
In her own reaction Olympic Champion, Chioma Ajunwa-Opara (MON) could not agree less that it bothers on bad leadership. According to Ajunwa who did not only claim Nigeria’s first ever gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, but also by that feat became the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event, believes “Nigeria Sport Federation needs a lot of work. Losing Nigerian citizens to other countries like Turkey is a sign of bad leadership. From athletics to football and other sports, we have amazing talents who win medals flying the flags of other countries”
Adding Insult To Injury
The AFN even appears to be happy to let her go despite the initial expression of shock and admitting that Ofili is one of the bests Nigeria can boast off but added unfortunately that she is “difficult to deal with” and Nigerians are not amused, asking how but believe she is described as being difficult just for insisting that the right thing be done.
Global Deity@nnamdiAMOS in reaction says “When someone demands for things to be done in a proper manner, that person becomes a difficult person to deal with. We know this script. We see it whenever you demand excellence from people who can’t give it.”
READ ALSO:Paris Olympics Fallout: Ofili Switches Allegiance To Turkey
DRTasbolvet@adedokuntasleem went memory lane to recall that the blunders that force our athletes to seek better treatment by switching allegiance did not start today, submitting “This has always been what the government says when people demand things to be done in the right way. I was watching a documentary about Super Eagles 96. Westeroff had to boycott those federations and was dealing with Abacha one on one. Those federations in the country are 70% of our problems”.
Nigerians who have kept track of activities of the athletics ruling body in the country, and watched as some of our finest athletes switch citing the same reason will tell you for free that Ofili’s case will not be the last.
Aside from the administrative ineptitude the unwritten constitution of giving all attention to football cannot change the situation. So anyone who thinks we have seen the last of the switches may need to think twice.
If Change Is To Be Achieved
- Those seeking to be elected to head Federations must have a stake. They must have either competed in sports or boast of track record of administering sports so that they can be conversant with rules, deadlines and requirements.
- Issue of athlete’s welfare should not be a communiqué after a summit, but actionable process that will assure athletes that they are cared for and appreciated.
- The stampede often recorded ahead of international competitions where Federation officials battle for slots while relegating athletes to the bar ground needs to stop.
- Fire brigade approach to preparations for international competitions needs to become a thing of the past. It will interest you to know that serious minded countries hoping to win medals at the next Olympics began preparation immediately after the last one. Those who want to compete by chance begin when they hear “Happy New Year of the Olympic Year.
- Overbearing attention on football needs to be checked. It is the king of sports everyone knows that but every government official, agency and department should not be involved in football while relegating other sports to the bar ground. It is when Super Eagles are involved that money is released faster and everyone wants to be part of the party.
- Heads of Sports Federations and agencies who have overstayed their welcome and usefulness should bow out honorably so that new ways of doing things can be introduced. Sit-tight syndrome should not be allowed to be the order of the day in sports.
If we continue to stick to the old ways of doing things, today it is Ofili tomorrow it could be another athlete because in sports business, time is of the essence.
You compete when and where you derive the greatest benefit because if injury comes along the way, a promising career could hit the rocks with a bang.
So blame not the athlete for switching blame and change the system.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
