Team Nigeria contingent to next week’s First African Youth Championships in Athletics in Warri, Delta state is confident of emerging winners of the inaugural edition of the championships.

The team,comprising of 59 athletes and 15 officials will arrive Warri Monday morning from their training camp in Port Harcourt and president of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria,Evangelist Solomon Ogba says Nigeria is hosting to win.

’We are not only going to give Africa an event they will be talking about for a long,long time and which will serve as the benchmark for future championships,we are also hosting to win.We have a good team that we believe will not only win the African Youth Championships in Athletics but also one that can produce many future stars for Nigeria’’,says Ogba.

The AFN president says his federation has done everything possible in terms of preparing the team for the competition and is confident the 59 boys and girls selected will not disappoint Nigerians.

’Last year we won the senior African Championships in Athletics in Port Novo,Republic of Benin and I believe our policy of exposing  our young athletes to international competition and good training has started yielding the desired results’’.
Serghi Porbeni,one of the team’s officials is also confident Nigeria will win the championships.

’Nigeria has always been a force to reckon with in track and field in the continent.We want to use this competition to reassert the authority we started in Port Novo last year.

We have selected a very strong squad for this championships and I believe the bright future that awaits track and field in Nigeria starts with this event in Warri’,said Porbeni,echoing the sentiments of former African queen of the track,Mary Onyali-Omagbemi who believes the Warri championships will throw up a lot of potentials who can be groomed to become the new Onyalis,Falilat Ogunkoyas,Chioma Ajunwas and a host of other great ex-Nigeria track and field stars.

Meanwhile chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the championships,Amaju Pinnick has assured of a hitch-free championships next week.

’We dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s.We thank the Delta state government for bankrolling this even as well as other sponsors who have committed money to these championships.We want to assure Nigerians that we will organise an event they will be proud of’’,he said.