Favour Ofili: 3 reasons why WR holder is wrong to dump Nigeria for Turkey

Following reports on record-breaking sprinter Favour Ofili dumping Nigeria for Turkey, several opinions have surfaced online on whether she made the right decision or not.

For context, the 22-year-old has been Nigeria's best sprinter in the past few years and seen as the heir to the legendary Blessing Okagbare's throne as a future Olympic and world medallist.

With the recent developments of her switch of allegiance to Turkey, Pulse Sports has deciphered why she may have made the wrong decision not choosing to stay in Nigeria.

Ofili allegedly applied for her nationality switch on May 31, 2025, meaning she will acquire Turkish citizenship and residency before the end of June.

Once her citizenship is approved by World Athletics, she cannot represent Turkey at any major championship for three years. This is due to the three-year eligibility rule enforced by World Athletics. As a result, Ofili will not compete at the World Championships in Tokyo this summer, and her first international competition representing Turkey will be at the LA 2028 Olympic Games.

The sprint sensation is currently one of the world's best sprinters and after her 150m World Record (WR) earlier this season and 200m sixth place finish at the Paris Olympic Games last summer, she was on pace to challenge for a 200m medal at the World Championships in Tokyo in September.

With her participation in Tokyo now out, the question is if she'll keep her form or stay relevant in the track world for three years. Without disputing the fact that she's super talented and just getting to her peak years, so she still has a whole lot to give in her career. However, adding three years without a major international championship is surely a decision that could have an effect positively or negatively. Hopefully, it isn't the latter.

Majority of Nigerian athletics fans have supported her right from her youth level to date.

Ofili started donning the country's colours as a 15-year-old, competing at every age group continental and international championships, winning medals at each of them.

They've grown to support, love, and defend her even when the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) caused her several pains, especially at the Tokyo and Paris Olympic Games.

She was even named 'Star Girl' as their shining talent in line to take over the sprinting legacy of the legendary Blessing Okagbare. With her switch, she has left several fans heartbroken, and the thought of having to support her from afar is a hard pill to swallow.

"Don’t think anyone is angry at her switching… they just sad they have to be a fan from afar now," wrote a heartbroken X user on Ofili's decision.

The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has struggled to nurture homegrown talents to elite levels; however, they commendably succeeded with Favour Ofili.

At age 15, she was selected to represent the country at the African Youth Championships in Algiers, where she won 400m gold. To ensure her talent continued to develop, Ofili made her senior debut at the 2019 African Games in Rabat. There, she won a silver medal in the 400m and was also part of the gold medal-winning 4x400m relay team. This marked her first senior international medal for Nigeria.

Since then, she represented Nigeria at every continental and international championships to date, becoming a household name in the country.

Her exceptional performances at these championships earned her world recognition and paved the way to secure a student-athlete scholarship at Louisiana State University, where her talent will be fine-tuned to world-class level.

The AFN may not be the best at administrative duties, but the exposure and support they've given her through the years was relevant in her progress and this should be the time for the country and faithful fans to have return on investment, being the face of Nigeria athletics alongside Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume.

These veterans were also nurtured like Ofili and having to rebuild again with another homegrown talent is definitely going to take a few years.

Ofili had a huge chance at medalling at the World Championships in Tokyo this summer and could have been part of a talented pool of the women's 4x100m squad, but that is now impossible.

And as always, Nigeria now has to depend on Amusan and Brume for any chances of medalling in any women's track and field event for the next few years.