Nigeria were yet to win a medal as at Tuesday and all hopes had been on Ofili who had a personal best 21.96 seconds
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Ofili stormed to a season’s best of 22.24 seconds to win heat 6 of the event.
She dusted Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, who finished second in 22.28 seconds, and Gina Bass-Bittaye third in 22.84 seconds.
The Nigerian athlete finished tops in the heats as she finished with 22:87seconds.
Ofili ran a blistering 10.93s in the 100m event on Saturday at the LSU Invitational at Bernie Moore Track Stadium to win the event and move up to No. 8 on the all-time collegiate list.
Her stunning performance of 21.96s at the Florida meet, effectively wiped out the 22.04s record set by Okagbare in 2018.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the two medals increased Nigeria’s tally at the championships in Nairobi, Kenya to three gold and two bronze with one day of competition remaining.
Dare had charged and promised the athletes before the Championships began that those who do the nation proud will be handsomely rewarded, a statement that has now seen the light of day.
Onwuzurike thus erases compatriot Francis Obiekwelu’s long standing record of being the last Nigerian to have won the event since 1996.
The team, anchored by Patience Okon-George, has now jumped to the front of the queue for the four available slots on offer for the event in Tokyo