Sports
AFN Confirms Ofili’s Turkey Move
The President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Tonobok Okowa, has confirmed that United States-based sprinter Favour Ofili has switched allegiance to Turkey, calling for urgent financial support from both government and private sponsors to prevent further loss of the country’s elite athletes to foreign nations, Tidesports source reports.
Okowa made the revelation during a press briefing at the 2025 National Athletics Championship, held at the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos.
Ofili’s switch comes just months before the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Although her name still appears under Nigeria on the World Athletics website, federation insiders say the change is imminent.
In an emotional address, Okowa stated that the development highlights a long-standing issue that continues to deprive the country of its top athletic prospects.
“I can tell you that most of our elite athletes are already being approached by other countries to change their nationality and allegiance,” he said.
“And as we speak, Favour Ofili has been taken by the Turkish Federation.”
Okowa explained that financial inducements were a major reason athletes like Ofili are walking away from Nigeria.
“The kind of money they put on the table to get her is not something many athletes would refuse. That is why we are pleading with Nigeria as a nation and our government to come out and support us, so we don’t keep losing our athletes,” he said.
Reports indicate that Turkey, which has stepped up its recruitment of foreign athletes in recent months, offers as much as $500,000 to top performers willing to make the switch.
The move mirrors a disturbing pattern Nigeria has faced in the past, with talents such as Francis Obikwelu, Gloria Alozie and Femi Ogunode abandoning the country for more structured systems abroad.
Okowa, visibly concerned, reiterated that the federation’s most pressing challenge is inadequate funding, and called on the private sector to rise to the occasion and support the development of homegrown talents.
“We need more sponsors to come on board and support the welfare of these athletes,” he said.
“That is our most urgent issue. The government cannot do it alone.”
Highlighting the calibre of talent available, the AFN president said he was particularly impressed by the performance of the men’s 100 metres event at the championship, noting that Nigeria’s male sprinters have matured and are now capable of challenging the best globally.
“Our boys have come of age and they are performing well. They are in shape now,” he said.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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