Athletics Federation of Nigeria president, Ibrahim Gusau said that one of the cardinal agenda of the new board, will be to embark on grassroots development initiative that will usher in a new era in the sport.

. Athletics on 100ms race

Gusau who was speaking in Lagos stated that identification and documentation of grassroots talents was a sure step of reviving the sport.

“We have really lost it and we need to find our way back. We are putting a lot of things together in our efforts at bringing  back our lost glory. Things are unfolding and we are moving fast.

“One of such is the development of grassroots talents. We will work hard to identify them and then document them, and in so doing we aim to stamp out the occurrence of age cheating, one of the bane of the sport,” said Gusau.

He added that the AFN was also interested in the  promotion of long distance races as marathon running was fast gaining tradition in the country.

“We are looking at having a pool of long distance runners. And it is expected that within a short period of time we are able to produce elite athletes that will challenge the dominance of the East African runners.”

However, athletics enthusiasts have urged Mr. Gusau to act fast and forge a good working relationship with the rest of the AFN board members. There are still daggers drawn following the tumultuous June 13, 2017 elections.

A good number of the members have registered their displeasure about the seeming winner takes all disposition of the president. Even as Brown Ebewele, one of the displeased board members is taking a hardline on the issue.

“As far as I am concerned, Gusau is an impostor. He did not emerge from his zone properly as requested by the guidelines, so how can he be AFN president. We need to sort these things out so that we can peacefully move the sport forward.”