By Ben Efe

The future of Nigerian athletics was being discussed by coaches as the IAAF World U-18 Championships began yesterday in Nairobi, Kenya with the Nigerian team still stranded in Abuja.

The junior athletes who have been camped for almost three months are expected to head back to their respective homes today, as the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, still in a quagmire over the trip, has ruled out any participation.

“It is a very painful development for our athletics,” said coach Paul Obodochina who was in camp with the athletes.

“With what is going on at the AFN, nobody is sure of anything at the moment and it is sad. This will not help our developmental programmes.”

Also coach Toni Urhobo submitted that it will take Nigeria a long time to catch up with the rest of the world in athletics.

“We are not even doing the right things. Until there is cohesion in our grassroots sports management, there wouldn’t be any good result. Imagine a 13 year-old Jamaican girl running 11.00 seconds? This is something some our under-18s are struggling to run and we are talking about making impact at the 2020 Olympics?

Former president of the AFN, Solomon Ogba lamented that the development has set Nigeria back in terms of athletes discovery and grooming, adding that it will be difficult to raise a good team that will challenge the rest of the continent in the future.

This failure to present a team is coming after the country failed to participate in the Africa junior championships held in Algeria in March.