DOHA 2019: Minister Inaugurates Committee To Review Nigeria’s Poor Outing

Following Nigeria’s poor outing at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, the Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, on Monday in Abuja inaugurated an eight-member committee review the team.
While inaugurating the committee, the minister said the measure was to unravel the immediate and remote causes of Nigeria’s poor outing at the Championships with a view to forestall any reoccurrence.
He, however, stressed that the move was not to witch-hunt anybody, but to find a lasting solution to the challenges facing the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).
The World Athletics Championships was held in Doha, Qatar from Sept. 26 to Oct. 6.
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“We need to know why Nigeria which topped the athletics medals table at the 2019 African Games in August came a distant ninth with just one bronze medal on Africa’s standing at the championships just about a month later.
“Other African countries, like Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco and even Namibia, did better than Nigeria at the Championships,” the minister said.
Dare also decried the administrative lapses which led to the initial disqualification of two top Nigerian athletes at the championships.
NAN reports that the committee’s terms of reference include unraveling the causes of the poor outing, establishing outstanding athletes’ claims and recommending the way forward.
The committee has Prof. Ken Anugweje
as Chairman, with the other members being Dr Umar Bindir, Rotimi Obajimi, Ibrahim Galadima, Mary Onyali, Falilat Ogunkoya, Dare Esan and Maria Wophill.
Wophill, who is a former AFN Secretary, will serve as the committee’s Secretary.
The committee has just one week to submit its report.
While responding, Anugweje pledged on behalf of the committee to ensure a thorough job in line with international best practices, especially considering the calibre of members of the committee.