All too soon, the days of referring to football as the king of sports and others as lesser sports are rapidly becoming a phantom of the past. Gone are the days when all Nigerians treated football as ‘the beautiful bride,’ while all others were lumped together, cast aside and trampled upon as ‘the forsaken lot.’
With Nigeria’s football teams having lost steam on the international scene in recent years, the onus has fallen on sports lovers across the country to seek other disciplines to gloat over and look up to for relief, thereby laying ground for the emergence of ‘bigger spots’ in other sporting endeavours apart from our once domineering soccer.
Step out for recognition volleyball, where Engineer Musa Nimrod is doing great things on the regular courts and the beach. So, beach volleyball has begun muscling with regular indoor sports hall activities for the country’s spikers, while several appearances are also spreading on the international scene – the most recent of which is ongoing in Tunisia.
Dramatically, Nigeria’s male and female volleyball national teams continue waxing strong, while the domestic league is of an excellent standard, with great revelations frequently emerging from there to hog the continental terrain, even as foreign-based professional players.
Most significantly, two Nigerian female beach volleyball players recently qualified for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Same goes for handball, where the junior national teams are also performing wonders, the most recent of which have been back-to-back in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. Less than a week after the under-20 squad picked bronze in the Ivorian capital, the U18s stepped forward to be recognised and counted on the African terrain.
They are now standing tall among Nigeria’s new wave makers in the clan of bigger spots for previously less recognised sports.
Kudos also go out to Dr Uyi Akpata of Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), whose tenure has given so much prominence to the girl child. For that to be happening in cricket (of all sports) is a major talking point that needs to be celebrated, especially as it is also at the youth level.
All thanks to the Junior Female Yellow Greens, Nigeria has stepped out of the dark days when the role of a lady was restricted to ‘the other room (apologies to late president Buhari).
That also goes for the startling return of netball to the nation’s sports register through Dr Oluwatoyin Esther Aluko.
What about Honourable Lekan Fatodu and the progressive clan at Aquatic Federation of Nigeria (AqFN), where the country’s swimmers are now holding their own up to the continental and global levels.
So amazing it was that a Nigerian swimmer even got into the spotlight and close to a medal at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
Swimming has suddenly become a sport to watch, as the legacies that were developed and set in motion by the body’s late president, Dunkwu Chamberlain for youth development begin to manifest.
Talking about the Commonwealth Games takes us back to the growing impact of weightlifting and powerlifting in churning out medals for Nigeria. Such an amazing feat that the much-acclaimed opulence of track and field was overshadowed by the exploits of Nigeria’s weightlifters in Glasgow – with gold, silver and bronze medals flowing in between.
Those exploits took our minds back to the amazing feats of the 1984 Olympic Games (which also took place in Los Angeles), where names like Lawrence Iquabon brought glory home to Nigeria through weightlifting.
Sadly, the glorious outings of weightlifting and powerlifting at Glasgow 2026 did not rub off on track and field, as the like of Tobi Amusan, Samuel Ogazi, Rose Usoro, Udodi Onwuzurike and Kanyinsola Ajayi could not replicate the wonderful strides they had achieved on the international circuit heading into the Commonwealth Games.
Nonetheless, with a couple of gold medals – especially from Ezekiel Nathaniel – as well as three silver and bronze in the kitty, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), led by Chief Tonnobok Okowa, need not be unduly reprimanded.
No reprimand too regarding the giant strides being achieved in tennis, where Nigeria’s return to the world Davis Cup zonal group stage is heartwarming, and we can only wish them well this weekend as they seek promotion to a higher stage away in Morrocco – especially with our Roland Garros and US Open 18-year-old sensation, Oluwaseun Ogunsakin in the team.
Same goes to the chess contingent that is already in Uzbekistan, laced to the hilt with such promising players like 11-year-old Emmanuella and 15-year-old Goodness showing huge potential for greater days ahead of them, with auguries of better days to come for Nigeria’s glory and pride as a while. Same goes for golf, with the presence of Ambassador Segun Runsewe as ‘the new sheriff in town.’
There is also the awesome presence of an elegant stallion, whose tenure has brought to the fore the truism of that long held yet under played adage – What a man can do, a woman can do better. She’s a lady of esteem, an amazon, who is excelling in a domain that was initially the preserve of men. Yes, Tayo Popoola has shown that ladies too can twinkle in taekwondo.
Just a few months after stepping into the saddle, Popoola has taken Nigeria’s taekwondo prospects to a higher level, with greater expectations coming that we will soon see one of our own steps up beyond the bronze medal that Chika Chukwumerije won at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
The same goes to wrestling, where the emergence of Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) Bashir Adewale Adeniyi as president of the grapplers’ federation has turned that sector into another glittering goldmine and celebration yard for Nigeria’s sports sector.
Not only is he running the sport, but he is also making donations, giving scholarships and boosting a volleyball team in the domestic league. Talk about a man of many feathers iin his cap.
He has continued with aplomb from where former Olympic Games gold medalist for Canada, Honourable Daniel Igali stopped – and Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) is the better off for it. Such a glorious development it was that Igali never tried to hang onto the saddle longer than necessary.
Unlike a couple of other bodies where in-house fighting is stunting their progress, the wrestling federation is waxing stronger after Igali’s peaceful handover to CGC Adeniyi. Congratulations.
That’s where Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) and Nigerian Boxing Federation (NBF) both need to take a cue. A house disunited against itself can never stand, which is one of the unfolding scenarios now hogging Nigerian football.
Many people are talking about reforms for Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) due to recent fumbles by the Super Eagles and Super Falcons, but we may also need to put our beacon on the NBBF as well – especially after recent slumps by D’Tigers and D’Tigress.
Same goes for boxing, where the astonishing emergence of ‘pro’ in the NBF’s ranks leaves one wondering what the relevance of Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C) will henceforth be.
It also leaves us wondering why British Boxing Board of Control (BBB of C) continues to exist after almost 100 years of its existence and no one from the amateur sector has ever risen against them in a tussle for possession of the sector’s professional rights.
Similar in-fighting is stalling the progress of kickboxing in Nigeria, and this treatise should serve as a wakeup call to the gladiators to please sheathe their swords so that the initially fast-growing martial arts discipline can get back on track.
In a similar though less frightening dimension, there’s also a need for better trappings from karate, while flag football too could do better once full fledged unity is installed into that sector as is curently being pursued.
Let’s also not forget recent giant strides for Nigeria in arm wrestling, scrabble, teqball, archery, shooting, wheelchair basketball, amputee football and para-sports in general, all of which appeared alien to the country some years back.
However, with the fading fortunes of football setting in and hitting us with glaring realities of where we got it wrong, lesser sports are now the initially neglected stone that has become head of the corner.
