Being a naturally gifted athlete is not a barrier, but exploring your talents in a country with a cracked asphalt surface with no physio and biomechanist, or a federation that may not submit your name for the next major championship, is a great disaster.
Migration is not new to Nigerian athletes, but what is new is the pace of it in 2026, the profile of the athletes leaving, and the growing willingness of those athletes to say out loud exactly why they are going.
One unique story of the athlete journey is the story of Favour Ofili, world 150m record holder, two-time Olympic medalist.
Favour Ofili: A unique journey of migration
No single story better encapsulates the plight of the Nigerian track athlete than that of Favour Ofili.
Ofili officially confirmed her switch of allegiance from Nigeria to Turkey in September 2025, citing years of frustration with officials from the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the Nigerian Olympic Committee over administrative failures she says cost her two Olympic appearances.
The failures were not minor; in 2020, after qualifying, she was unable to participate in the Tokyo Olympics because the AFN failed to inform her of a required drug test.
Then at the Paris 2024 Olympics, after several tough qualification rounds and at peak form, the AFN failed to submit her name for the 100m event, a discovery that left her in tears on the track.
In her own statement on Instagram, Ofili wrote, “Having won six gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals in championship meets and experiencing the biggest disappointment from AFN and NOC for their negligence towards me in two Olympics, Tokyo and Paris, I have made this decision.”
She said she received no compensation and no apology from Nigerian officials for the missed opportunities.
Turkey offered a clearly higher payment compared to Nigeria, and it is shown under the terms of Ofili’s club contract with the Istanbul Directorate of Sport.
Ofili was to receive $10,000 per month from April 2025 through July 2028, followed by $5,000 per month through October 2032. In Nigeria, the AFN’s own disclosed camp allowance for athletes attending the 2026 Commonwealth Games national training camp in Asaba was ₦75,000. roughly $47 at current exchange rates.
However, in April 2026, World Athletics rejected an application by Turkey to switch the allegiance of Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili, dealing a significant blow to the athlete’s proposed nationality change ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games.
Tonobok Okowa, the AFN president, reacted to the scenario while making a public appeal to Nigeria’s federal government for funding.
He stressed the need to enable Nigerian athletes to remain in the country rather than seeking opportunities abroad.
“Favour Ofili is almost gone, and more athletes are about to seek other nations’ nationality, and the drift should stop through adequate funding for athletics by the sponsors and the Federal Government,” he said.
Many other stories
Nigeria has a long list of athletes leaving the country for other nations following administrative lapses. Apart from Favour Ofili, others like Francis Obikwelu (Portugal), Gloria Alozie (Spain), Florence Ekpo-Umoh (Germany), Salwa Eid Naser (Bahrain), and Femi Ogunode (Qatar) left the country and went on to achieve significant international success after departing.
Annette Echikunwoke, a hammer thrower who won silver at the 2024 Olympics for the United States, was initially disqualified from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to AFN negligence.
Annette said via a post on her Instagram page that, “On my 25th birthday, I was officially informed that I cannot compete at the Tokyo Olympics due to the negligence of the federation I was set to compete for.”
