Seven-time Olympian and Nigerian table tennis icon Funke Oshonaike has sounded the alarm over the state of grassroots development in the sport, calling for urgent investment and consistent funding to revive the game in the country.
Speaking passionately about the decline in youth development and the shrinking number of local tournaments, Oshonaike said the current structure does little to groom the next generation of elite players—especially young girls.
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“We need to develop the girls. There is not so much improvement with the girls. It’s just the same name. We need other good players.”
She lamented the reduced number of competitive events compared to previous years:
“While playing in Nigeria, we used to have like 10 or 12 competitions in a year. But now it is very hard to even have four to five competitions in a year.”
Oshonaike also emphasized the importance of international exposure in shaping world-class talent, pointing out that many promising Nigerian players are held back by a lack of funding.
“They need funds to go to international competitions. As you know, the only person that we’ve been hearing about in the world of table tennis is Quadri Aruna. But that is not enough. We need more.”
The veteran athlete called on stakeholders and sponsors to help take more players—especially juniors—to international competitions such as WTT events, insisting that Nigeria has the raw talent to dominate globally if given the right support.
“A lot of them are good players. They need to be highly rated in the world—not only locally. They need to go out, compete, and be seen.”
Oshonaike concluded that with sufficient investment, Nigeria can consistently produce top-ranked players, not just rely on a single global figure.
