As Nigeria marks its sixty fourth Independence Day anniversary, ABIODUN ADEWALE spotlights some moments within the final yr that add to the fascinating sports activities historical past of the nation
Nigerians have been participating in worldwide sporting occasions earlier than Independence in 1960.
Sixty-four years later, the sports activities sector has grown larger in stature, with quite a few unforgettable recollections (good and dangerous), and the record retains getting longer.
HIGHS
U-19 Girls’s Cricket World Cup ticket
Simply earlier than one other Independence Day anniversary, certainly one of ‘the so-called lesser sports activities’ cricket has given Nigeria one thing to cheer about, because of the ladies’s U-19 staff, the Junior Yellow Greens, who clinched the ticket in Rwanda on Sunday. Though their closing conflict in opposition to Zimbabwe was washed out by rains, the Nigerian women had been adjudged the most effective staff within the qualifier, having gone via the group levels with an ideal file, together with a one-wicket win in opposition to Zimbabwe. It’s the second time Nigeria can be qualifying for any cricket World Cup after the boys’s U-19 staff achieved the feat in 2019.
Coincidentally, the triumphant staff can even arrive within the nation on Tuesday, as we speak, when the nation marks its sixty fourth Independence Day anniversary.
Paralympians shine once more
Crew Nigeria’s seven-medal haul on the Paris 2024 Paralympics could be the nation’s worst outing on the summer time occasion, however the feats of the athletes stand as a number of the greatest the nation recorded within the final yr. Considered one of them was para-powerlifter Folashade Oluwafemiayo, who broke her world file within the girls’s over 86 kg para-powerlifting, changing into the primary para-athlete in historical past to carry 166 kg and profitable a gold medal within the course of.
Para-badminton participant Bolaji Eniola additionally grew to become the primary African participant to win a badminton medal at both the Olympics or the Paralympics. Nigeria received two gold, three silver, and two bronze medals.
Oshoba’s Boxing World Title
UK-based Nigerian boxer Elizabeth Oshoba grew to become the primary feminine Nigerian boxer to win a world title, a feat she achieved by knocking out Italy’s Michela Braga (6-0-1) in spherical 10 of their bout on the Royal Enviornment in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Saturday, January 13 to grow to be the brand new WBC silver featherweight champion.
It was Oshoba’s fourth profession knockout victory as she handed Braga her first-ever professional defeat, whereas she prolonged her good file within the professionals to seven straight wins.
Ademola Lookman’s Europa League heroics
Dubbed the incoming African Participant of the Yr, Atalanta ahead Ademola Lookman warmed his approach into the hearts of Nigerians along with his efficiency on the 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast earlier this yr, the place he scored three objectives to energy Nigeria to a second-place end. His particular person brilliance additionally earned Atalanta their first European title, as he scored a historic hat-trick of their 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen within the 2024 Europa League closing. The 26-year-old ended the season with 16 objectives plus 9 assists in all competitions.
Osimhen, Oshoala APOTY awards
For the primary time since Kanu Nwankwo and Mercy Akide 1999, Nigeria produced the boys’s and girls’s African Participant of the Yr award winners in December 2023, as Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala had been topped in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Oshoala’s award was a record-extending sixth crown, whereas Osimhen ended Nigeria’s 24-year look ahead to the boys’s prize. It’s secure to say it was an evening that reawakened Nigeria’s dominance in Africa, at the same time as the boys’s crown is almost definitely going to be handed to a different Nigerian quickly. That would as nicely reenact the handover from Rashidi Yekini (1993) to Emmanuel Amuneke in 1994. Different Nigerians to have received the crown since independence are Victor Ikpeba (1997) and Kanu (1996 and 1999). Akide (1999 and 2001), Perpetua Nkwocha (2004, 2005, 2010, and 2011), and Cynthia Uwak (2006 and 2007) are the ladies to have received it as nicely.
2023 AFCON silver
Nigeria’s first AFCON was in 1963, three years after independence. Earlier this yr, the Tremendous Eagles, led by Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro, completed second on the match in Ivory Coast, being the fifth time the nation will emerge as runners-up. They had been overwhelmed by hosts Ivory Coast 2-1 within the closing after a turgid run via the match. Vice-captain and defender William Troost-Ekong was additionally named the Participant of the Match after scoring three objectives, together with one within the closing.
LOWS
Paris Olympics no-show
Tales of woes about Nigerian sports activities resurfaced after the nation’s 88-man contingent to the Paris 2024 Olympics did not win any medals. It was the eighth time within the nation’s Olympic historical past, which started in Helsinki in 1952 (earlier than independence). Though Nigeria began competing on the Video games earlier than independence in 1960, the nation didn’t win its first medal till Tokyo in 1964, because of the late boxer, Nojeem Maiyegun, who received a bronze.
Ofili saga
Nigerian sports activities additionally hit a brand new low on the 2024 Olympics in Paris when sprinter Favour Ofili cried out over being omitted from the ladies’s 100m occasion regardless of qualifying. It was a second blow the nation was dealing on the sprinter, having beforehand been denied the chance to compete on the 2020 Video games in Tokyo as a result of lacking out on pre-competition assessments.
Minister of Sports activities Improvement, John Enoh, has arrange an investigative panel to unravel the reason for Ofili’s omission in Paris, amongst different points that rocked the nation’s N9bn participation within the Video games.
Misplaced glory of amenities
At 64, there is just one accredited stadium that may host CAF matches in Nigeria, regardless of the presence of gigantic stadiums in virtually each metropolis in Nigeria. The Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, which serves as the house of the Tremendous Eagles, is the one accredited stadium by CAF to host matches, whereas different amenities, together with the Nationwide Stadium in Surulere, rot away. The nation hosted two FIFA tournaments in 1999 and 2009, with the stadiums merely serving as venues for golf equipment.
U-17 AFCON/World Cup miss
With 5 FIFA U-17 World Cups, Nigeria is probably the most profitable nation at that degree, however has did not make any affect within the competitors since 2017, once they did not qualify.
Completely different generations of Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets have dominated the world 5 instances (1985, 1993, 2007, 2013, and 2015), exhibiting the nation’s prowess in churning out expertise. However they are going to miss back-to-back editions (2023 and 2025) after their woeful outing on the WAFU B match earlier this yr.
The Nigeria Soccer Federation even made extra mess of their state of affairs, saying that that they had certified for the previous match in Ivory Coast subsequent yr earlier than they later introduced their 3-2 win over Ghana in a third-place match wasn’t sufficient to safe them a spot.
Doping bans
Since 1960, there was a protracted record of Nigerian athletes who’ve been banned for one doping violation or one other, and that quantity elevated in late 2023 and earlier this yr. Nigerian sprinter Divine Oduduru and boxer Cynthia Ogunseilore got here underneath the hammer of various our bodies for being concerned with efficiency enhancers.
Oduduru was banned for six years for committing two anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) because the Athletics Integrity Unit introduced that there was “overwhelming proof” in opposition to him. The case arose when U.S. prosecutors charged therapist Eric Lira with supplying performance-enhancing medicine to athletes on the Tokyo Olympics.
Oduduru’s teammate Blessing Okagbare was banned for 11 years for doping within the lead-up to Tokyo and refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
On the Paris Olympics, light-weight boxer Cynthia Ogunsemilore was provisionally suspended after she examined optimistic for a banned substance forward of her opening battle on the Olympics, the Worldwide Testing Company mentioned.
Ogunsemilore examined optimistic for furosemide, a diuretic on WADA’s prohibited record, in an out-of-competition doping management.