Former AFN Technical Director Sunday Adeleye Predicts Tough Future for Nigerian Athletics

Former Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Sunday Adeleye says despite the poor state of affairs in the Federation, Nigeria can do so much more than just having a few world record holders.

Adeleye told BRL that there’s growth in the sport across the continent, however, in Nigeria there is still a long way to go in achieving the set-out plans.

“We still have a long way to go because the way things are being done; the way we administer athletics, we must also look at how far Nigerian Athletes have gotten even with the kind of treatment, compared to their counterparts across the Continent and the World.”

“Remember, Nigeria is the giant of Africa, we are the big brothers, of course, a lot of African countries emulate us, but, if you see what is happening now, Kenya is also trying to like taking what belongs to us. Of course, right now, you will see that you have countries like South Africa at par with us trying to also do what we are doing, but fair enough, we have the World Record in Nigeria to our name and our advantage which means we are doing very well, but we still have a long way to go.”

“By that I mean we can have more world record holders in Nigeria because we have the potential and what it takes, but we must see athletics as a business for example in the ministry, I saw the 10-year masterplan of the business structure, and it’s a brilliant one.

“So I believe we can do better than we are doing right now and stakeholders are actually trying to put heads together, we will do our own bit and we encourage others to also do their own bit and see how the sports can thrive.”