Athletics
AFN denies knowledge of any PUMA contract that is terminated
Although sportswear manufacturers, PUMA has issued a press release announcing the termination of a contract with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, the Nigerian sports body has claimed ignorance of any contract.
It is however of common knowledge that there are two factions laying claims to be the AFN – one headed by Ibrahim Gusau who was first elected in 2017 before running into troubled waters in 2019.
This year, he emerged as the factional head while Tonobok Okowa’s faction which is both recognised by the Nigerian Ministry of Sports and the Nigeria Olympic Committee is the one denying knowledge of any contract.
According to a statement issued the body remarked that it was not in possession of any contractual documents signed between and PUMA and cannot be liable for what it knows nothing about.
In a statement signed by Prince Adeniyi Adisa Beyioku, its Secretary General, the AFN revealed that it does not know anything about the contract outside what has been written in the media and, from the media reports had even made attempt to clarify from PUMA, pointing out breaches of the AFN constitution by Messrs Gusau and Adeleye who PUMA confirmed negotiated the deal.
”The attention of the AFN has been drawn to a media statement signed by Shehu Ibrahim Gusau confirming the termination of the agreement he and Mr Sunday Adeleye signed with sportswear and equipment company, PUMA purportedly on behalf of the AFN in July, 2019.
”The AFN wishes to state unequivocally that it is not aware of any contract as there was no document in the Secretariat of the federation pertaining to any contractual agreement with PUMA,’ the AFN said in the media statement.
Gusau had claimed the last board he was president of signed the deal with PUMA but majority of the board members some of whom are in the new board had denied any knowledge of the contract.
”Following media reports of the said contract especially in the lead up to the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the inauguration of a new executive board of the federation, the Secretary General of the AFN Prince Adeniyi Beyioku, appointed pursuant to article 8.7.2 of the federation’s constitution (2017) and recognised by World Athletics had in a letter dated July 19, 2021 requested Mr. Gusau to avail the AFN of the contract details and return whatever had been collected from PUMA to the Secretariat of the federation at the Moshood Abiola stadium Abuja recognised by World Athletics.
”Mr Gusau refused to heed the advice and acted as if only two out of 13 members constituted the former board of the federation and must be the only ones allowed to know details of the contract, citing a non-disclosure agreement. Yet Mr Gusau and Mr Adeleye reportedly negotiated the deal on behalf of the same board.”
”The AFN also wishes to state that the constitution of the federation states in article 8.7.2, sections 4.4.2, 4.4.3 and 4.4.4 that the Secretary General must not only be privy to all decsions, contractual or otherwise entered into as its chief administrative and accounting officer but must also be the custodian of such documents, records and properties.
‘This constitutional provision was flagrantly violated by Mr Gusau, wielding the power of a emperor that the constitution did not give him.
”The AFN wishes to put on record that the new board did not see any documents indicating there was an agreement with PUMA and noted that majority of members of the previous board, acting on newspaper reports wrote PUMA through its lawyer, Oluwole Afolabi that they were not aware of the said contract but PUMA insisted it signed an agreement with the AFN despite glaring constitutional breaches which invalidated the said contract.
‘The board members, through Barrister Afolabi further wrote on January 30, 2020 to put PUMA on notice of renunciation of business relationship.”
Beyioku says the federation is saddened that two people have allowed their selfish interest to override their sense of patriotism and deprived hard working Nigerian athletes of the financial benefits in the said contract following the revelation (after the termination of the agreement by PUMA) that $15,000, $5,000, and $3000 will be earned by gold, silver and bronze medal winners respectively at the ongoing Olympics.
”From the media release signed by Mr Gusau, we know such a bonus structure would have been available at the 2019 World Athletics Championship and we want to ask why such was not disclosed to the athletes to serve as a source of motivation for them and why Ese Brume who won a bronze medal in the long jump event at the Championship has not been paid.”
Beyioku says with the reported termination, more revelations will come to the fore about other financial benefits to the team hitherto hidden under a bogus non-disclosure agreement and Nigerians will be left to decide how sincere Mr Gusau and Mr Adeleye whose company, Dynamic Sporting Solutions was used to warehouse the money meant for the federation in the purported contracted, as revealed in a letter from PUMA in February 2020.
‘It is clear that Mr Gusau and Mr Adeleye negotiated the said contract as President and Technical Director of the AFN respectively as the PUMA letter indicated and not Dynamic Sporting Solutions acting as the AFN consultant and which is owned by Mr Adeleye and which the duo nominated to warehouse payments from the said kits and equipments sponsor.
‘The AFN wishes to remind Nigerians that the criminal case arising from the PUMA deal the Inspector General of Police instituted against Mr Gusau and Mr Adeleye is still before the magistrate court in Abuja.’
BY DANLADI BAKO
Sports and indeed global athletics have been the cynosure of quite a huge community of track and field afficionados in the last nine days at the Tokyo World Athletics finals.
The global athletics fraternity congregates annually to celebrate new world beaters and champions.
Athletes spend a large amount of time, energy and resources to train, attracting the best coaches and utilizing some of the high impact facilities in developing qualifying times for their individual events.
So many nations facilitate the upscaling and upgrading of their athletes’ mentality, physique and performance standing through investments in the training and welfare of their high-profile athletes by providing grants, scholarships and appreciable reward systems.
These have been in short supply in Nigeria and indeed within the developing world where the priorities of most governments are education, health, poverty and so many other development challenges.
However, the benefits of investing in sports are unquantifiable especially on the world global diplomatic stage, unassailable visibility and an incredible reputation unachievable in so many other areas of human existence. In the eighties and 90s the Americans literally ruled the sprints with female 100 meters legend Florence Griffiths – Joyner and 400 meters world champion Michael Johnson.
Just like America used the movies to show Americans as the world best, sportsmen like basketball’s Michael Jordan and boxing’s Muhammad Ali put America on the pinnacle of human capacity for endurance, determination, strategic planning and near perfect execution.
America might have the size and population above 200 million so it’s success can be expected, however Jamaica an island of 150 miles by 50 miles has gone beyond exporting Reggae’s global icons like Bob Marley and Alton Ellis to producing 100 meters legends Usain Bolt, Sherry Ann Fraser-Price and Marlene Ottey thereby winning international recognition and inevitable public reckoning far beyond most African countries.
Now a land locked southern African sub-continent country Botswana with less than the population of Lagos State just on Sunday won the 4 x 400 men’s relay gold at the Tokyo 2025 games even after picking a few other medals through individual athletes Tebogo et al.
The Tokyo games have come and gone with Tobi Amusan putting Nigeria on the medals table with her 100 meters Silver medal. Ajayi’s efforts in the 100 meters men’s final was also commendable.
For me the highest point was the super- human diminutive Kenyan Faith Kipyegon in the 1500 metres clinching gold and 5000 metres silver.
Another great spectacle was the exploits of American idol Noah Lyle who anchored the last leg of the 4 x100 metres gold winning quartet.
Lyle won the 200 metres gold as well becoming one of the audaciuos and eye-catching supreme athletes of Tokyo 2025. Mention must be made of Sweden’s Armand Mondo who broke the pole vault world record thrice in two days.
So when and how would Nigeria get to these towering heights of conquering the world?
The fact is that we once had Olympic and World Athletics finalists like Innocent Egbunike (400m) , Chidi Imo (100 and 200m), Yusuf Alli (Long jump) and Falilat Ogunkoya (400m) although it was the American University collegiate structure that groomed them to become world beaters with little or no input from the home government.
Once in a long while a training grant of $50,000 gets handed to them in preparation for Olympic games to pay their coaches and for utilizing training facilities abroad. Even Ezekiel Nathaniel and Oyinkansola Ajayi are still beneficiaries of the American University collegiate structure.
The aforementioned names who also schooled and trained in the United States are still very much around especially Yusuf Alli, Falilat and Mary Onyali.
The authorities need to device the appropriate strategies to achieve podium standings in the nearest immediate future.
All the products of the National Youth Games and the School Sports Federation games should be drafted into a growth enhancement program, hire some of the best Athletics coaches from around the world and ensure the construction and maintenance of high-performance pitches and gymnasia.
The Sports Federations must be populated with patriotic and passionate sports men who are brimming with enthusiasm, desire and creativity.
President Tinubu did not only resuscitate the National Sports Commission, he gave an unprecedented 12 billion naira to the Sports Ministry for AFCON and other tournaments earlier this year so we have a listening President who can restore our lost glory in sports and athletics in particular. Nigeria must reclaim its podium standing capability as soon as possible.
Danladi Bako, OON was Senior Special Assistant to former Minister of Youth and Sports as well as one-time Chairman Sokoto State Football Association.
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By KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria’s silver medal finish at the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships once again highlighted the country’s roller-coaster fortunes on the global stage.
While the podium placement ensured Nigeria did not return empty-handed, the overall medal count has remained stagnant in recent years compared to other rising athletics nations.
At the Doha 2019 Championships, Team Nigeria endured a barren outing, failing to register a single medal. Three years later in Oregon 2022, Ese Brume broke the drought with a stunning gold in the women’s long jump — Nigeria’s first-ever world title in the event.
The momentum continued into Budapest 2023, where world record holder Tobi Amusan claimed silver in the women’s 100m hurdles, cementing Nigeria’s presence among the elite hurdlers. In Tokyo this year, the nation repeated the feat in the same event, albeit again settling for silver.
A comparative glance at the last four editions shows a troubling trend: Nigeria has not improved its medal tally, with just one medal each in 2022, 2023, and 2025.
This raises urgent questions about depth, consistency, and investment in talent development beyond the few star performers.
Comparative Medal Table (2019–2025)
- Doha 2019 – 0 medals (No standout performance)
- Oregon 2022 – 1 Gold (Ese Brume, Women’s Long Jump)
- Budapest 2023 – 1 Silver (Tobi Amusan, 100m Hurdles)
- Tokyo 2025 – 1 Silver (100m Hurdles)
The pattern underscores Nigeria’s reliance on individual brilliance rather than systemic excellence. Athletics analysts argue that unless the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) strengthens grassroots programs, invests in coaching and sports science, and improves athlete welfare, the country risks stagnating while competitors from Africa and beyond surge ahead.
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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria wrapped up its campaign at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo with a single silver medal, finishing joint 25th on the overall medals table with eight others on the medals tables as the curtain was drawing on the championship.
The position may even deepen at the end of the day.
Star hurdler Tobi Amusan delivered the country’s only podium finish, placing second in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Despite the modest medal haul, several Nigerian athletes impressed with near-misses and record-breaking efforts.
Ezekiel Nathaniel narrowly missed out on a medal in the men’s 400m hurdles, finishing fourthin a national record time. Kanyinsola Ajayi also reached the men’s 100m final, settling for sixth, while shot put specialist Chukwuebuka Enekwechi placed fifthin his event.
Nigeria fielded 15 athletes – eight men and seven women – in Tokyo. While the performances reflected resilience, the lack of medals beyond Amusan’s silver highlighted gaps in preparation and depth.
Analysts point to the absence of Nigeria’s traditionally strong relay teams, logistical challenges, and inadequate athlete support as major setbacks.
Sports observers insist that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) must chart a new path if the country is to climb the global athletics ladder.
Key recommendations include better logistics and athlete welfare, renewed focus on relay programmes, grassroots talent identification, and consistent funding.
Despite the below-par medal count, the performances in Tokyo suggest Nigeria still possesses world-class potential. With reforms and stronger administration, the AFN has an opportunity to turn near-misses into podium finishes at future championships.
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