Ado Salisu
With less than a month to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, coaches have called on the National Sports Commission (NSC) to urgently pay outstanding grants to Nigeria’s elite athletes.
The championships are scheduled for September 13–21, 2025, but concerns are mounting over delayed payments, which coaches fear could affect athletes’ morale and performance.
President of the Nigeria Coaches Association, Gabriel Opuana, expressed frustration over what he described as unequal treatment of athletes.
“Some athletes have been paid grants while others have not. This is causing disaffection among them and affecting their commitment, especially in relay events,” Opuana said.
Adding to the tension, some US-based athletes who returned home for the National Trials and the CAA Region 2 Championships in Accra, Ghana, say they feel neglected.
“These are young athletes who should be working summer jobs in the U.S. to support themselves, yet they sacrificed that to represent Nigeria. Unfortunately, they’ve received no incentives or support,” lamented coach Tony Osheku.
Athletes reportedly affected include:
Favour Onyah
Pristina Ochonogor
Onwaeze Nnamdi
Efforts to get a response from the CEO of the NSC Elite Athletes Development and Podium Board, Yusuf Alli, were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s men’s 4x400m relay team fell short of the qualifying mark for Tokyo at the Region 2 Championships in Accra. The quartet, led by Gafari Badmus, clocked 3:05.22 secs, ahead of Ghana’s 3:06.34 secs, but far from the required 2:56.00 needed to displace Zambia in the top 16 world rankings before the August 24 deadline.
“All we needed was a 44-second runner. Without the likes of Samuel Ogazi and Chidi Okezie, we couldn’t hit the mark,” Osheku explained, though he expressed confidence the team could improve if given another chance.
In the women’s 4x400m, Patience Okon-George showed glimpses of her old form, running an impressive 51.1secs split, but the team’s overall time of 3:33.83secs was not enough to push Nigeria into qualification despite beating Ghana to the gold.
The country’s 4x100m teams, despite dominating their races earlier, also failed to secure qualifying times for Tokyo.