The presidential hopeful for the Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) and Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has pledged to enhance the visibility of wrestling in Nigeria if elected as president of the NWF. He made this commitment while presenting his manifesto to the electoral committee in Abuja yesterday, outlining his vision for the sport over the next four years.
Adeniyi expressed his motivation by the reforms implemented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and emphasised his desire to ensure a peaceful transition within Nigerian wrestling.
“If we look at wrestling in Nigeria, only two states have been investing and achieving success in the sport,” he noted. “I aim to change this narrative and provide national visibility for wrestling. A positive aspect of the wrestling federation is the unanimous spirit within the board, which I believe will continue in a constructive manner. This is the time for us to align with the reforms introduced by the President and ensure a smooth transition from one federation to another before and tackle the fundamental challenge of advancing sports in Nigeria.”
“There are several priorities we have in mind. The champions who have represented Nigeria over the past decade are aging. Therefore, one of our primary objectives will be to manage their transition as their performance declines. We must harness their resources and explore how they can contribute moving forward, with some becoming national coaches, officials, or administrators.
“Additionally, we need to address how to fill the void that will be left by these athletes. A key challenge will be to establish a pragmatic and proactive talent development programme that will enable us to replace some of these ageing competitors. While we have promising talents stepping up, it may take two to three years to cultivate them into global champions like Blessing Oborodudu and Odunayo Adekuoroye.”
“Of course, we will take one step at a time. We need to look beyond the National Sports Festival and explore how to develop talents from the Military and Paramilitary Games. We are also making efforts to leverage the Nigerian Universities Games Association (NUGA) as a vital resource, and the National Youth Games is another important platform. We were present during the last Games in Delta and aim to identify wrestlers at a young age, nurturing and managing them effectively while providing international exposure,” Adeniyi stated.
Adeniyi, whose contributions to sports development have been widely acknowledged, expressed his commitment to building upon the existing progress within the Wrestling Federation and expanding its reach through enhanced sponsorship, improved organisation, and elevating wrestling to a truly national event.
Having made significant impacts in basketball, volleyball, wrestling, table tennis, and various other sports, Adeniyi underscored his desire to serve in a federation where he can make a meaningful difference within a peaceful and unifying environment.
“My passion lies in sports overall,” he said. “However, I want to be in a federation where we can make a substantial impact—one that will attract national interest and contribute significantly to the development of sports in Nigeria.”
Adeniyi concluded by reaffirming his commitment to building on existing successes and consolidating Nigeria’s position as a sporting nation through collaboration, visibility, and sustainable development at all levels.
