Nigeria AYAC Athletes Tasks Sports Ministry

Nigeria youth athletes that participated in the first Africa Youth Athletics Championship (AYAC Warri 2013) has charged the Sports Ministry and the National Sports Commission to take as a point of duty to keep to their words and make sure the talents gotten during the competition were not forgotten in terms of nurturing.

Some of the athletes who don’t want their names in print said the altitude of the sports ministry and NSC forgetting track and field athletes’ is bad as the sport have brought glory to the country even when the sport they (NSC) always make money available for has failed the country.

A Lagos based female athlete who was among the Team Nigeria AYAC winning athletes while soliciting for camping exercise for the athletes from the AYAC team with great tutoring in track and field.

She further stressed that she was not used to running with Estimated Distance Measurement (EDM) machine while giving kudos to AFN President kudos for the AYAC 2013 which exposed the youth athletes to mechanical devices used in Warri for the championship.

 “Time is going and it will be bad if the Sports Ministry and NSC don’t take any action to camp or start any program for us Africa champions.
“If you look at the team, we are all very young and it won’t be out of place to start early because the Olympics and other championships are coming. So now is the time.
“The AFN cannot do it alone. The sports Ministry and NSC should stand by Ogba because if not for him, I doubt if Nigeria will ever attend any athletics competition year in year out,” she added

Another athlete from Delta added that, “if not for the President of the AFN, I don’t think Nigeria wound have won the AYAC 2013 because it was the AFN Boss that made sure we are camped for the championship, I heard he even spent his money on that.
‘That is very bad because if it is football, there will be money made available for the camping.”

Meanwhile, an athletics coach who also pleaded anonymity added that; “In the situation whereby the Sports Minister said he don’t know if athletes go into camping for competitions is not good for Nigeria sports. Camping and preparations for competitions should not be for football alone, such generosity by the sports ministry and the NSC should also be extended to all sports federations in the country.”