Nigeria: Egwero Sad Missing AFN Jackpot

Duro Ikhazuagbe

16 June 2011

Ogho Oghene Egwero Wednesday won the final leg of the 2011 Athletics Federation of Nigeria but was sad that he missed out of a share in the N2m jackpot prize.

“I am not happy that I won’t get my share of the jackpot. Nobody told me that I need to win five out of the five legs otherwise. I would not have gone to race in Morocco and miss the Lagos leg,” observed the Delta athlete, who clocked 10.44 in the race against a -2.9 headwind.

Egwero insisted that his father’s presence at the Warri Stadium made him run the final leg. Another Delta athlete Elvis Ukale (10.61) and Fred Agbaje (10.63) of CDA placed second and third respectively.

However, all the four top contenders for the jackpot prize won their events to share the N2m at stake.

The winners include Baba Ibrahim (Hammer) who heaved 51.45m to win the gold. Justin Agu also won the men 800m while both Shola Anota (Long jump) and the NSCDC 4x100m women relay were the others who shared in the jackpot.

However, the race that raised tension was not the jackpot winners but the men’s 4x100m relay where they NSCDC men shocked Delta State to the gold.

Meanwhile, the AFN has said that all technical officials for the Nigeria/CRS/ All Nigeria Athletics Championships are to have a seminar before flag off on Thursday, June 23 in Calabar.

And in a related development, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has entered into a $150,000 (about N25m) sponsorship contract with Chinese oil giants, Sinopec. The deal coming up barely hours after the AFN severed its 22 years old relationship with Mobil Producing Nigeria was considered a step in the right direction of lifting track and field in the country.

AFN President, Chief Solomon Ogba was full of excitements over the deal coming up less than a month of signing a N250m five-year deal with Cross River State government for the All Nigeria Open Championship.

“I am delighted we have been able to seal this deal. Sinopec is an IAAF partner and we have been able to convince them to pick Nigeria as one of the countries they want to partner with. It is a big step in our efforts to reposition track and field in Nigeria,” said Ogba adding that the signing of the contract.

Sinopec is just one of the many sponsorship deals the federation is pursuing.

“We have a deal with Samsung and the All Nigeria/CRS Athletics championships also has an insurance coverage to the tune of $25,000.The Cross River state government is also splashing N50m on our national championships. These definitely are positive developments and we are glad companies are beginning to have confidence in the AFN again,” he said.

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