Monica Iheakam
Better days are ahead of female athletes in the country as the Association of Former Female Athletes of Nigeria (AFFAN) takes up the mantle to champion for better the lives of the women who have represented the country in the sports industry.
AFFAN Chairperson, Dr Toyin Aluko, briefing sports writers in Lagos, disclosed that the association is poised to serve as a voice for the female athletes in Nigeria by protecting their interests and integrity.
According to Aluko, while the primary objective of the association is to give back to the society, the body will also serve as a role model to female athletes by ensuring that academic and moral sports excellence required for a complete athlete is achieved.
Registered as an autonomous organisation with activities linked to the promotion of active and retired female athletes, AFFAN is committed to using their wealth of field experience to empower protect and promote the activities of female athletes in the country to sports excellence.
“AFFAN will work with sports institutions, federations and associations in ensuring effective combination of sports and academics for the female athletes through scholarship schemes.
“The days where sports women are called ‘drop outs’ will be a thing of the past because don’t want to continue the trend of we represented Nigeria and were abandoned.
“We will create awareness that will motivate retired female athletes to continually contribute meaningfully to sports development in Nigeria by taking up positions locally and internationally in the administrative, technical and political spheres of life, Aluko stated.
Meanwhile the inauguration of the association is billed for October 2019 in Abuja.