Ezinna Abba has taken the Nigerian exit door after World Championships snub. The speedster is now eligible to compete for the USA.
In recent years, at least one highly-rated athlete dumps Nigeria to represent another country. This time, it is budding speedster Ezinne Abba, switching allegiance back to representing her country of birth - the USA.
While these exits can be due to several reasons, the most recent cases are down to the ineptitude of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) in handling their administrative duties adequately.
Abba and previously Annette Echikunwoke are recent victims of these administrative fumbles by the AFN, who have now preferably chosen the laborious route of making the US team than putting up with the incompetence or uncertainties surrounding the AFN.
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Though some athletics enthusiasts and pundits see their switch as a swift one that can have long-term effects on their careers, one cannot fault their decisions, especially the circumstances surrounding their exits.
How Abba was dumped via a phone call at the airport
The University of Texas standout student-athlete decided to run for Nigeria in 2022 and even sponsored herself to the Nigerian trials in Benin. Abba came to Nigeria with Personal Best (PB) times of 11.12s and 22.85s in the 100m and 200m respectively, and projected as a significant addition to the talented pool of female sprinters in the country.
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04:32 - 14.01.2023
ATHLETICS Ezinne Abba debuts for Longhorns with 60m Personal Best and Facility Record
Ezinne Abba and Alaba Akintola, both make impressive 2023 season debuts in their various meets.
However, she couldn't compete in the individual events because of a hamstring strain, though later drafted into one of the 4x100m relay teams as an anchor leg runner in a bid to qualify for the World Championships in Oregon.
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Abba, was chosen as part of the women's 4x100m relay team to Oregon, a championship she was looking forward to in making her maiden appearance for Nigeria.
The 22-year-old went back to the States to start preparing mentally and physically. Then 40 minutes before her flight to Oregon - the week of the championship, she received a phone call that handed her the shock of her life.
She had been withdrawn from the championship because of the "fear of failure" - an explanation she will later detail on her Instagram page.
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Abba's situation was a bitter pill to swallow, considering she switched from wearing the colours of 'almighty USA' after representing them at the junior level and decided to wear the Nigerian green and white colours.
Now it is known that Abba began her process of switching allegiance back to competing in the American colours shortly after the World Championships, as stated on the World Athletics website.
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Abba with blazing form in the 2023 indoor season
The season, the speedster transferred from being a student-athlete at the University of California to the University of Texas and has been in blazing form since then.
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She made her season debut for the Longhorns with an impressive PB of 7.29s in the 60m and has lowered it to 7.20s, 7.19s, 7.17s (to win the bronze medal at the Big 12 Indoor Championships), and 7.15s at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
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10:28 - 25.02.2023
NCAA Ezinne Abba drops impressive PBs as Chukwuma also makes double finals at BIG 12 Championships
Ezinne Abba and Rosemary Chukwuma are through to the finals in their respective events at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships.
In the 200m, she also lowered her PB from a season debut of 23.30s to a PB of 22.99s, which would have made her the third Nigerian in history to break the 23s mark indoors.
Though she is yet to kick off her outdoor season in these events, Abba has been impressive with the Longhorns 4x100m relay team, with Julien Alfred being their star athlete and could have been a great inclusion into Nigeria's current young pool of sprinters as well.
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Abba is the latest in the long list of Nigerian athletes that have switched their allegiance over the years. So we can only wonder what her inclusion could have brought to the progress of Nigeria women's sprnts at international championships. Unfortunately, "If wishes were horses, beggars will ride."
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