Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare reacts after winning the women’s 100m at the Herculis international athletics meeting, at the Louis II Stadium in Monaco, Friday, July 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

LAGOS SEPTEMBER 15TH (URHOBOTODAY)-World championships medalist Blessing Okagbare has once again opened fire on sports authorities in Nigeria, accusing them of silencing athletes, sabotaging sponsorship deals, and covering up incompetence at the highest levels of the country’s sports administration.

In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Okagbare alleged that officials of the Ministry of Sports, the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC), and the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) deliberately undermined athletes and destroyed opportunities that could have elevated the country’s athletics scene.

“They are always looking for ways to silence an athlete’s voice. Like seriously, who do us like this? Even when an athlete boldly speaks the truth with so much evidence, they would use their own media platform to discredit the athlete as covering up for their incompetence,” Okagbare wrote.

She recalled how in 2021, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Nigerian athletes secured what she described as “the best sponsorship deal” from a global shoe company. But according to her, sports officials sabotaged the deal for selfish reasons.

“In 2021, when we got the best sponsorship deal from a shoes company, those in power from the MOC and FP, even one always acting as the federation president while he wasn’t anymore, did all they could to sabotage it. I asked one what they stood to gain if we didn’t get those gears, and he rolled his eyes at me,” she said.

Okagbare further alleged that after speaking out, she was threatened.

“I wrote about it on my social media platform, and I got a message warning me to stay out of it, that I would get what I was looking for. Days later, we all saw what happened,” she wrote.

According to her, the gear provided by the shoe company eventually arrived in Tokyo but never reached the athletes.

“Those gears arrived and were in Tokyo in 2021, but they made sure the athletes did not get them. See ehn, these people. Now you’re trying to condemn an athlete for stating the obvious. So what if you bought her a business class flight ticket?” she said.

The former world medalist, who was banned from athletics in 2022 after a doping scandal, has continued to insist that Nigeria’s sporting problems are rooted in corruption, sabotage, and the deliberate suppression of athletes who challenge the system.

Her latest outburst has once again thrown a spotlight on the deep rot within Nigerian sports governance, just days after hurdler Tobi Amusan publicly ridiculed the Athletics Federation of Nigeria for handing athletes shabby kits at the World Championships in Japan.

Amusan, in a viral Snapchat video on Saturday, lamented: “As it is now, I have to wear an adidas black tight. I go show you wetin Jamaica. When I tell you say Jamaica is in the same WhatsApp group with Nigeria, but dem no worse like Nigeria. Nigeria, all the other countries give their athletes two kits. See wetin Nigeria park give us. This country (Nigeria) is really embarrassing.”

Her remarks triggered outrage among Nigerians online.

One user, @Topss, wrote: “You need to see the kits the Nigerian Sports Commission sent to Tobi Amusan for a major competition, it’s so embarrassing to see, we are our own problem smh.”

Another user, Mimi, said: “Tobi Amusan wins Heat 6 despite complaining about poor treatment from AFN, including substandard kits and unfair treatment. She remains focused for the main competition.”

Critics also accused the AFN of embezzling funds meant for athletes’ welfare.

One user, Kahn, wrote: “Tobi Amusan was given a mediocre kit whereas the body embezzled the money allocated.”

Responding to the backlash, AFN President Tonobok Okowa dismissed Amusan’s claims, insisting the athletes were given full kits supplied by Hiracer, a global sportswear sponsor.

“There is nothing wrong with those kits. Tobi Amusan only brought out one pack out of the pack that she was given. The items came in batches, so they were told that the following day they would receive the rest of the kits. She just brought out only that one kit and displayed it to the world,” Okowa told Sunday PUNCH.

He added that the federation did not spend a kobo, saying, “They even received spike shoes and covers. This company gave us all these things free of charge. We did not pay one naira to them.”

Saharareporters

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