Nigeria Risks Losing Future Sports Champions to Poor Grassroots System – Adeboye
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Hon. Adeyinka Anthony Adeboye |
"Thousands of gifted Nigerian children could be denied opportunities to excel in sports, not because they lacked ability, but because the country had yet to establish an effective system for identifying, nurturing and developing their talents." Adeboye aka Authority.
..... As NIS DG, Phillip Shuaib backs presidential aide, says Tinubu’s sports reforms must translate into grassroots opportunities.
..... Says "the gathering was particularly important following the restructuring of the sports sector, noting that stakeholders needed a common platform to understand their respective responsibilities and establish a coordinated approach to implementation."
Nigeria risks losing generations of potential sporting champions unless urgent steps are taken to address inadequate facilities, poor coaching and limited opportunities for young talents across the country, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Grassroots Sports Development, Hon. Adeyinka Anthony Adeboye, has warned.
Adeboye, popularly known as Zulu Authority, said thousands of gifted Nigerian children could be denied opportunities to excel in sports, not because they lacked ability, but because the country had yet to establish an effective system for identifying, nurturing and developing their talents.
He spoke while unveiling the vision behind the National Grassroots Sports Development Summit 2026, scheduled to hold on November 18 and 19 in Abuja, with the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) as a partner.
The presidential aide said the summit was designed to develop a sustainable national framework for discovering talents at the grassroots, providing them with the necessary support and creating clear pathways for their progression to national and international sporting competitions.
Raising concerns over the number of potential champions Nigeria may have lost to systemic failures, Adeboye asked: “How many champions have we lost, not because we were not good enough, but because the system was not?”
He maintained that Nigeria must move away from an accidental approach to talent discovery and embrace a deliberate and inclusive system that guarantees every child, irrespective of geographical location, family background or economic circumstances, access to sporting opportunities.
According to him, sporting excellence should not be determined by where a child comes from, the financial capacity of the family or connections with influential individuals.
“Talent is everywhere in Nigeria. Opportunity is not,” he said, stressing that the responsibility of government and other stakeholders was to bridge the gap between available talents and the opportunities required to develop them.
Adeboye commended President Tinubu for his administration's commitment to repositioning the sports sector but stressed that such commitment must translate into practical opportunities for children and young people in schools and communities.
He said the vision was to make every local government area a potential centre of sporting excellence, with schools serving as major platforms for talent identification, development and nurturing.
The presidential aide identified participation, talent development, infrastructure, sports economy and international partnerships as the five pillars of the proposed national grassroots sports development framework.
He explained that the framework would expand access to sporting activities, particularly for girls and children from disadvantaged communities, while ensuring that promising athletes receive quality coaching and progress through structured school, community, national and international competitions.
He also emphasised the need to develop and maintain sporting facilities, attract private-sector investment and establish international partnerships that would expose Nigerian athletes and sports professionals to global opportunities.
Beyond producing athletes, Adeboye said a functional grassroots sports system would create employment and career opportunities for thousands of young Nigerians in coaching, refereeing, physiotherapy, sports analysis, facility management and sports administration.
He called for a coordinated approach involving federal and state governments, local government authorities, sports federations, educational institutions, private-sector organisations, development partners, coaches, athletes and the media.
He expressed optimism that the two-day summit would produce a declaration and actionable recommendations capable of guiding sports development in Nigeria beyond the event.
Adeboye further urged Nigerians to see sports as more than the pursuit of medals and trophies, describing it as an important instrument for education, character development, discipline, confidence, employment generation and the protection of young people from negative social influences.
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His Excellency, Comrade Phillip Shuaib |
Speaking at the event, the Director-General of the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Comrade Phillip Shuaib, described the summit as a long-awaited intervention that could provide a new direction for sports administration and development in the country.
Shuaib said the gathering was particularly important following the restructuring of the sports sector, noting that stakeholders needed a common platform to understand their respective responsibilities and establish a coordinated approach to implementation.
He recalled that the agitation for a sports commission, rather than the traditional ministerial structure, was driven largely by concerns that bureaucratic bottlenecks had continued to undermine the development of sports in Nigeria.
According to him, stakeholders had envisaged a system in which the proposed commission, the NIS, sports federations and other relevant institutions would operate with clearly defined responsibilities and greater operational efficiency.
He said the intention was to move the sector away from excessive ministerial bureaucracy towards a more dynamic, private-sector-driven sports economy.
“The essence of agitating for a commission was that we did not want ministerial bureaucracy to hinder sports development. We discovered that bureaucracy was one of the major problems affecting sports development in Nigeria,” he said.
The NIS boss regretted that the summit, which he said should have been organised earlier to provide direction for the new structure, had taken years to materialise.
He, however, expressed confidence that the calibre of stakeholders expected at the November gathering would produce recommendations capable of addressing longstanding challenges in the sector.
Shuaib particularly underscored the importance of President Tinubu's commitment to sports, saying the President had consistently demonstrated interest in the welfare of athletes and the development of the sector.
He noted that the President's personal interest in sporting activities and his engagement with athletes had provided encouragement for those entrusted with responsibilities in the sector.
According to him, the President had repeatedly emphasised the need to take sports to the grassroots, arguing that Nigeria could only maximise its vast human potential by widening participation beyond the handful of athletes who currently enjoy access to organised sporting opportunities.
He challenged sports administrators and government appointees to justify the responsibilities entrusted to them, insisting that accountability should extend beyond elected political leaders to those appointed to implement government policies and programmes.
Shuaib urged stakeholders, including the media, to monitor the performance of those appointed to manage different aspects of the sports sector and demand accountability where they failed to deliver on their mandates.
He also disclosed that the NIS had commenced programmes aimed at extending sports development across the country's six geopolitical zones.
According to him, the establishment of NIS structures in the six geopolitical zones, after 52 years, represents a significant step towards decentralising sports training, education and development.
He said the institute was already implementing programmes in line with its grassroots development mandate and would continue to work with relevant stakeholders to expand opportunities for young Nigerians.
Shuaib expressed confidence that the summit would provide the platform for a new national direction for sports, urging journalists and other stakeholders to prepare position papers and concrete recommendations rather than limit their participation to asking questions.
He said the objective should be to build a system capable of producing competitive Nigerian teams through deliberate investment in talent development, rather than relying on favourable permutations and other countries' results to secure qualification for major international competitions.
Both Adeboye and Shuaib stressed that the future of Nigerian sports depended on sustained investment, effective coordination, institutional accountability and a deliberate commitment to grassroots development.
They expressed hope that the November summit would move the conversation beyond policy declarations to practical measures that would give young Nigerians, regardless of their backgrounds, a genuine opportunity to discover and fulfil their sporting potential.
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