By Uzor Odigbo
No fewer than Five board members of the AthIetics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) have abandoned their State Associations and have not initiated or organized any AthIetics competition in their Zones after they were elected into the board since June, 2021.
Investigations have it that no sooner they came into office through their respective Zones, some of them travelled and made themselves incommunicado to their states’ Athletics Associations, a development states in their zones have condemned.
For instance, in the NorthWest Zone, AFN board member, Hon. Yusuf Liman Dahiru who is presently the Speaker of Kano State House of Assembly, had since abandoned his Zone, without helping to organise a single local grassroots AthIetics competitions. This has also made states reps under the NorthWest to kick and threatened to withdraw him from the AFN board.
The North East Zone representative and AFN first Vice President, Tafida Gadzama was seriously indicted for not responding to the needs of Athletes and coaches in the zone talkless of providing competitions for AthIetes.
His scorecard after representing the Zone for many years was zero, according to sources.
Gadzama was accused of lack of presence at his duty post, a development confirmed by seven chairmen from his Zone’s State athletics association.
“We have not seen him after the AFN election in June 2021, the zone is lacking a worthy representative at the Center and we can’t continue that way in the next election,” said, Bauchi State AthIetics Association secretary Abdullahi Brinin.
Abdullahi Brinin however didn’t reveal the candidate the Zone will back in the next AFN elections. He said, “time will tell”.
AFN board member from South East Zone Victor Okorie didn’t get sound commendation from the states’ AthIetics Associations in the five states that make up the zone.
In Abia State for instance, the State association scribe said she did not know him or his achievement owing to lack of presence.
“Although he lives abroad, phone calls to introduce himself would have been enough., I am a bit new here, I don’t know him, but his achievement would have said much if any,” says Nkechi Obioma a worker in the Abia State Sports Council.
Same in Anambra, Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi States Associations.
Okorie has to fight his way through if he aspires for a second term.
The North Central Zone representative on the AFN Board, Amb. Manta Mohammed, is alleged to be ignorant of some of the secretaries of the States AthIetics Associations in the Zone.
According to the Kwara State AthIetics Association, workers in the North Central are not having any competition through the representative from this zone which he promised to provide.
After pleading anonymity he said, “We lack competitions in the zone and would want more competitions for our AthIetes.”
In the South West Zone, reactions were mixed as its representative on the AFN board, Solomon Alao is accused of hardly showing presence in competitions others organise.
“My Checks revealed that Alao partly organise one competition since 2021. He was was lucky the Southwest Zone doesn’t lack AthIetics competition but the AFN board member hardly show up,” a source said.
Unlike in the Southwest Zone, the South-South Zone was described as a Zone with perfect representation.
The Zone with its Six States AthIetics Associations adequately organise States AthIetics competitions.
Delta alone had packaged a series of AthIetics competitions in the last four years both at schools, States and local government levels.
A lot of credit goes to the AFN President, Chief Tonobok Okowa who came from the Zone.
“If other Zones should emulate South South Zone, AthIetics successes in most States across the federation would be huge,” a state association Chairman revealed.
Some Associations said the frustrating aspect is that Some States AthIetics Associations don’t have a single competition in many years yet they have a representative on the AFN board that had refused to assist their base.
