Obiesesan said Nigerian Athletes need funds to run the tracks, adding that Funds from individual pockets can’t help athletes’ performance.
By Uzor Odigbo
Nigerian coach in diaspora Lateef Michael Obisesan has said sprinters from the country will overwhelm others from the continent at the forthcoming Senior Africa Athletics Championship in Mauritius in June.
Obisesan revealed this during a chat with TheNiche at the just concluded 2nd AFN All-comers competition at Yaba Tech Lagos last week.
He said though, a Kenyan is in custody of the Africa 100m record and South African sprinters are doing well presently, no doubt Nigeria athletes will surprise them in Mauritius to reclaim the titles.
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The coach who is presently at the Togolese athletics High-performance Centre in Lome insisted that for performance to improve, there must be adequate sponsorship.
Nigeria Athletes need funds to run the tracks, adding that Funds from individual pockets can’t help athletes performance.”
He added that athletes currently doing well at competitions either abroad or locally are enjoying one sponsorship or the other.
Obesesan who was once based in Saudi Arabia insisted that Nigerians perform better when they have the funds to train, travel, feed and run more competitions.
Popularly known as Coach Lati, he averred that coaches in the country must regularly undergo training to keep them abreast of modern technics in athletes.
According to him, most coaches and athletes competing in the country, unfortunately, lack basic knowledge of modern athletics practice, that’s the reason their athletes are not running well.
Athletes in Nigeria have the potentials to do well and the AFN should assist in making funds available for training and research.
The AFN All-comers competition was competitive, only a few countries in Africa can provide such competition.
He advised that such meet should be regular. “If you notice, Nigeria athletes in the diaspora are doing well and with the assistance of those at home, the squad is complete for greater exploit at any major competition,” he said.