The Athletics Federation of Ni
geria (AFN) has said that the 2014 All Nigeria/Cross River Athletics Championship is a launch pad for better performance in this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The President of AFN, Mr Solomon Ogba, made the assertion on Wednesday in Calabar at a media briefing on preparations for the championships due to begin on Thursday in Calabar.
“In this championships, we expect to raise a team that will defend our position as champions during the African Athletics championships.
“We will also raise a team that will make the country proud at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow later in the year.
“I am sure that through this championships, we are going to surpass our previous performances at the Commonwealth Games. We will surely get to the podium,’’ Ogba said.
He said that AFN’s partnership with Cross River Government was yielding positive results and commended Gov. Liyel Imoke for his interest in sports development in Nigeria.
He also commended Imoke’s comprehensive sports development programme in Cross River and urged successive administrations in the state to sustain the lofty programme.
Ogba said the country had waited for 14 years before winning any medal at international championships before the intervention of Cross River Government.
He disclosed that over 40 foreign-based athletes were already on ground to take part in the championships, adding that it promised to be highly competitive.
“And, I am sure that at the end of the championships, new records will be broken and medals will be won,” he said.
The AFN president said that if athletics was accorded the same financial priorities as football, the country would win many medals at world meets.
Speaking, the Cross River Commissioner for Sports, Mr Patrick Ugbe, said the state government had fulfilled its earlier promise to change the tartan tracks of the U.J. Esuene stadium to meet world standard.