Renowned grassroots coach, Tobias Igwe has said that the performances of the Eastern States in the athletics events of the just concluded National Sports Festival in Abuja were lamentable.
Igwe, popularly known as Toblow, called on governments of the states to show more interest in the sport, as the region is known to produce top quality athletes.
He traced the decline to the fact that coaches who produced athletes in the past have been neglected and discouraged. “Just imagine a State like Abia that won about eight medals at the sports festival in the past cannot even boast of one in Abuja.
“Abia and other States are known for producing top quality athletes for Nigeria. I am calling on the state governors to begin to look inwards and contract coaches who could revive athletics,” Tobia & Igwe he stressed.
Women in football face daily battle, says France coach Toblow said he was dealt a big blow in his quest to groom young athletes, when he was  prematurely dismissed without benefits by the Abia state government under Theodore Orji.
“I have nothing now to start scouting athletes and coaching them. I have been dismissed from service because I wasn’t from Abia State. Ordinary, if I’m comfortable, I will be working with athletes.
“But now I’m slowly dying, while my colleagues in other countries are producing world class athletes.
“I’m begging the present Abia Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu to reinstate me. Or at best give me contract so that I can at least return to the field to coach young athletes, I still have a lot to offer.”