Reigning World Champion Tobi Amusan recently went on a public rampage against the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), attacking them for providing substandard kits to Nigerian athletes. In a fresh twist to the saga, AFN President Tonobok Okowa opposed Amusan’s statement and claimed athletes were given complete kits. We bring you all the gbas gbos from this Tobi Amusan vs AFN faceoff.
World record holder Tobi Amusan blasted the Athletics Federation of Nigeria for providing inferior and inadequate kits to athletes ahead of the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo. In a deleted post on Snapchat, Amusan expressed her frustration and lambasted the federation’s continued neglect of the athletes’ welfare.
The hurdler bemoaned that while athletes of other participating countries received suitcases and complete kit packages, the Nigerian athletes were given small nylon bags containing two competition kits of substandard quality.
She said in a burst of anger, “All the other countries dey give their athletes suitcases. See wetin Nigeria pack give her athletes. Every year naso we dey collect am inside one small nylon bag. This country will steadily embarrass you. Una come say make people nor switch allegiance? Una never ready.
1 Podium wear, where long tight? Where three-quarter tight? Where long sleeve? No singlet! We no even get cloth wey we go wear for dining. This thing wey dem give us na strictly competitions gear,” she added.
Poor welfare for athletes, sportsmen, and sportswomen has become a dominant theme in Nigeria for decades. The Federal Government’s allocation to the Sports Sector in 2025 nearly quadrupled from the previous year’s allocation. ₦3.65 billion was allocated to the National Sports Federations for Athletes. However, the funds have seemingly vanished into thin air, and the athletes’ treatment worsened.
Nigeria failed to register a relay team at the global event, sparking public outrage, and a new revelation has worsened the Federation’s reputation. The AFN reportedly excluded athletes from the trip to Tokyo for the Championship to include official staff, under the guise of official duties. Athletes who had painstakingly qualified for individual events were bizarrely excluded from Nigeria’s final team for the global showpiece.
The troubling stories hint at a malignant tumor that has eaten deep into the fabric of the Nigerian system, corruption. Officials are more interested in diverting athletes’ allowances to their pockets. They rake in billions of naira, whereas the stars of the show are brutally abandoned to fend for themselves. No investments in kits, facilities, competitions, logistics, or training camps. This vicious cycle will persist if officials are not held accountable and made to face the full wrath of the law.
There is another twist in the saga as AFN President Tonobok Okowa, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, debunked Tobi Amusan’s claim and reiterated that the Federation assigned complete kits to Amusan and her teammates for the World Athletics Championship. Okowa added that, in recognition of her global standing and special request, special flight treatments were arranged for Amusan.
“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 revealed in a statement to PUNCH’s correspondent.
Okowa also revealed that the Federation had arranged complete kits with Hiracer, a global sportswear company that sponsors athletes from 20 participating countries at the tournament. The only missing item in the package was a travel bag, supposedly provided by the World Athletics governing body.
Okowa added that Hiracer had promised bonuses for medalists, saying, “This same company said they would give any gold medallist $30,000, silver medallist $20,000, and bronze medallist $10,000. So they should concentrate, work hard, and try to win, and then they will win their money.”
Meanwhile, Olympic Silver Medalist, Blessing Okagbare, threw her weight of support behind Tobi Amusan in a statement on X:
“You know, 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.
They are always looking for ways to silence an athlete’s voice. 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.“
Favour Ofili made a bold decision to switch international allegiance to Turkey following repeated disappointment at the hands of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria. Her switch is bound to spark a revolution among Nigerian Athletes with dual nationalities.
Amusan has shaken off the disappointment from AFN and produced a strong start at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. She clocked 12.53s to triumph in Heat 6 over Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton (12.69s) and Italy’s Elena Carraro (12.86s), booking her spot in the semifinals of women’s 100m Hurdles.
