Nigeria’s vice-president, Kashim Shettima has unfolded details about the new focus and extra attention being given sports under the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Sports247 reports.
Shettima pointed out that the current impetus which sports is receiving from the federal government is aimed at ensuring the sector boosts the country’s socio-cultural and economic development to an all-time high.
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Shettima stated as much while acknowledging the value of recent continental conquests achieved by two of the country’s female national teams, which he pointed out also represents a huge pass mark for gender equality.
He noted further that seeing D’Tigress win this year’s African Women’s Senior Basketball Championship (AfroBasket 2025) just a week after the Super Falcons won the Women’s African Cup of Nations in Morocco speaks volumes about the quality of Nigeria’s female sports stars.
Shettima eulogised, “Nigerian women have never failed the nation in sports. From the Super Falcons, standing tall on the world stage, to our athletes, breaking records on the track, and now D’Tigress building a basketball dynasty.
“Our women have consistently made us proud. They have shown the world that, when opportunity meets preparation, Nigerian excellence is inevitable.”
The vice-president, who delivered a highly charged and eloquent speech during the presidential welcome organised for D’Tigress in Abuja, added that everyone in the federal government is proud of their latest achievement in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
“We owe you not just applause but decisive action,” Kashim Shettima conceded. “That is why, under this administration, we are repositioning sports as a key pillar of our national development strategy and economic drive.”
He concluded by acknowledging that sports is a vibrant tool that can be used to promote social, economic, academic, political and cultural aspects of Nigeria’s everyday life and administration.
“Sports is not merely entertainment. It is infrastructure, it is education, it is diplomacy. It is a powerful tool for youth employment, economic transformation and global engagement,” Kashim Shettima concluded.
