Exciting Times Lie Ahead For Nigeria’s Sports — Olopade

Hon. Bukola Olopade is the Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC). In this interview with SALIFU USMAN on the sidelines of the 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he shared insights into the current state and future direction of Nigerian sports, touching on athlete development, national representation, and systemic improvements. Excerpt:

There are many young athletes in Team Nigeria at these Islamic Solidarity Games. What is the motive behind this?

Aside from the fact that every multi-international sporting event aims to unite countries and foster high-quality diplomacy, we also see it as an excellent opportunity to expose the young athletes discovered through our IJA programme, the National Sports Festival, and Youth Games to standardised international competition. It’s gratifying to see these emerging talents, such as our weightlifters and boxers, not only competing but winning medals, including gold, and standing proudly on the podium.

This event is also a stepping stone to the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics, allowing athletes to earn points for participation in larger international competitions. The trajectory looks promising. A key focus of ours has been to organise events domestically, creating a production line that showcases grassroots talent. I believe we are well on our way to achieving this goal.

We are seeing a renewed vigour among foreign-born Nigerian athletes representing the country. What is driving them?

I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Chioma, Pamela, and Oyesade for their remarkable performances here in Riyadh. These are top elite athletes, African Champions, and potential Commonwealth Games champions who answered the nation’s call during their off-season.

Chioma’s words, expressing her commitment to answer Nigeria’s call, resonate deeply as we strive to project a positive image of our country. Our athletes can be a powerful tool for rebranding Nigeria.

We’ve implemented impressive welfare packages, ensuring that bonuses and support are provided promptly. Many of these athletes are already on our ‘Athletes Grant’ programme.

Those young talents who performed well in these Games now qualify for elite status, granting them access to resources that will prepare them for the Commonwealth Games, Olympics, and All African Games. Success at events like the Islamic Solidarity Games qualifies young talents for this elite grant, preparing them for major competitions.

Unlike before, we didn’t come with a regiment of officials. Everyone here has a job to do. Our new system aims to identify the most promising athletes, eliminating the days of excessive officials accompanying teams. For example, we sent just one taekwondo athlete, who secured a bronze medal, and our weightlifters excelled with six golds, four silvers, and a bronze. This new approach is yielding positive results, and I take pride in our progress.

For the Commonwealth Games, if only five athletes qualify on the ‘hunger table’ (merit-based selection), the Elite Board will recommend only those five. We are no longer in the days of jamboree.”

We also noticed several Nigerian athletes competing for other nations. What is your take on that?

For those who have gone to other countries, they can stay where they are. However, for those who are patriotic and dedicated to serving Nigeria, I assure you that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the best leader we have ever had in terms of sports development. I recently briefed stakeholders on upcoming initiatives approved by the President that will fundamentally change the landscape of sports in Nigeria.

Shehu Dikko and I are proud to work under a President who understands the transformative power of sports. There are no excuses for our athletes not being well-equipped or supported. Everything necessary for their care has been provided, including recent approvals that will enhance the Athletes’ Grant. Exciting times lie ahead for Nigerian sports.

There can be no excuse whatsoever for our athletes not to be well-equipped, not to have money in their pockets, and not to be looked after.

Is there corruption in Nigeria’s sports?

Somebody recently said that the problem with Nigeria’s sports is not corruption, but incompetence and lack of patriotism. This resonated deeply with me and highlights the need to assess the capacity of individuals in key positions across all sports. It’s crucial to evaluate who is in charge of technical areas in taekwondo, athletics, football, and so on, and what they bring to the table. We must ask ourselves whether our technical leaders possess the necessary expertise to drive their respective sports forward. If these individuals do not have the gravitas and brilliance to do the job, they should be replaced.

For the second consecutive time, Nigeria will not be at the World Cup. Are you disappointed?

When Shehu Dikko and I assumed our roles, we were determined to elevate Nigeria from its previous low standings. We aimed for solid collaboration between the NFF and the Sports Commission. We were intentional about what we thought needed to be done to take us away from the abysmal position we were in. We were second to last with three points from four matches. The intentionality and clarity of purpose we brought was to establish a solid collaboration between the NFF and the Sports Commission.

The tools for us to qualify for the World Cup were provided by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the Commission provided the resources to the NFF through our various initiatives. However, I want to appeal and apologise to the public that we failed as a country to qualify for the World Cup. All was done positively to get us to the World Cup.

AFCON 2025 is around the corner. What is the target?

We must work together to get the job done. The misguided talk of someone hijacking the job of the NFF is not something anyone should pay attention to. What we must focus on is how all stakeholders, including the media, must come together because we cannot bring back the same factors that prevented us from qualifying for the World Cup to the living room of our people for AFCON.

The World Cup is not the only avenue through which businessmen and women can make money. As you said, the AFCON is around the corner; let us recalibrate and refocus on that. Beyond that, I believe better days for sports in Nigeria are ahead of us.

Please, I do not want to speak about football again, and I say this emphatically because it is very unfair to athletics, basketball, taekwondo, parasports, chess, scrabble, and all the other sports. For God’s sake, wrestling continues to bring laurels to us, yet nobody is talking about it. It is so unfair that handball is playing in the Nation’s Cup as we speak, and nobody’s discussing that.

Let us focus on the general purpose-driven vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on how sports can be a veritable tool for empowerment and how we can continue to stand on the podium. We must continue to empower our children and put money in the pockets of men and women in the media who are involved in sports business and those who are also entrepreneurs in sports.

Are you under pressure?

I do not believe that my colleagues and I in the Sports Commission are under pressure. We have never felt under pressure, and we always enjoy the support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Nigerians.

We have never felt the impact of being under pressure, but do not forget that this is a combined experience of 60 years in sports administration. The ideas and initiatives that we have brought out so far are geared towards ensuring that we are on the podium.

Perhaps we are the ones putting ourselves under pressure because failure has never been something we have been associated with.

And this is a new challenge that we believe we need to thrive on. For example, the invited junior athletes programme is working tremendously. We have also started talking about the invited diaspora athletes, with 600 young Nigerians in over eight countries already registered, expressing their desire to compete for Nigeria. We want to ensure that when they are ready to represent Nigeria, they will do so with pride.

We should concentrate on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision for sports as a means of empowerment, enabling us to maintain our presence on the podium and support our athletes.