By Ben Efe

Athletics Federation of Nigeria technical director, Omatsheye Nesiama has predicted a turn around for Nigerian athletics as the Port Harcourt high performance centre is set to come on stream.

Nigeria failed to win a medal at the London 2012 Olympics, but according to Nesiama the next two years are crucial for development and hopefully at the next Olympics there will be no sad tales to tell of the country’s athletics.

“With the Port Harcourt High Performance centre starting soon, we are looking forward to rapid development of athletics in Nigeria. It has been approved by the IAAF and we are only putting things together to have it take off as soon as possible.

“As you know, the centre encompasses all aspects of athletics development. Local and international coaches will be on hand to train our athletes,” said Nesiama, a Nigeria Navy Captain.

He submitted that the AFN is taking a two prong approach in efforts to jump start the developmental programme. This include performance based training meant for athletes who are already matured and grassroots development, which will see coaches scout for young talents that will be groomed to international standards.

“Within the next two years, we hope to see a remarkable improvement in Nigerian athletics. Some of the athletes we took to the Olympics are under 26 and we hope to give them all the necessary support and training to get them up to world standards performers.”