Lee Evans, 67-year-old, former Olympic 400m champion and renowned American coach, believes Nigeria are capable of producing a world champion only if there is a will to plan.
since 1983, Nigeria has failed to produce a champion at the World Athletics Championships in Finland.
In their last three Olympic appearances, they have also failed to win, a decline Evans attributes to funding.
The coach who is also a social activist, first came to Nigeria in 1975 and was instrumental to the rise of some of the country’s great athletes.
“The money Nigeria spends on one Senator is enough to produce a world champion,” Evans was quoted in Segun Odegbami’s blog, the mathematical7.
A Nigerian Senator earns approximately N13.5m monthly.
“I tell you, one Senator’s salary for one year will produce five gold medalists for Nigeria in two years. “There is no plan to win. There is no programme for development.
“It does not take much to train an athlete. We can start producing athletes that can compete for a medal within two years with the abundance of natural talents Nigeria has.”