Sports

2022 Commonwealth Games: Team Nigeria Will Excel In Birmingham- Sports Minister

Published

4 years ago

July 8, 2022

Joel Ajayi

With less than 20 days until the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham Scotland the minister of youth and sports development, Chief Sunday Dare revealed that the government is working day and night to ensure team Nigeria excel in the forthcoming world fiesta.

Minister stated this in chat with Journalists during an interactive session in Abuja, strategies are in place for our athletes to make Nigerians proud at the world event.

According to him, preparation is still ongoing, we hope Nigeria is going to excel in the commonwealth game

We have a template and it ends with a national trial, a system where all the athletes from all over the world will come to the trial, which we have done in Benin, city Edo state.

We are going to open camp on the 9th of July. We are moving all our athletes into close camping and from there we move to Birmingham. We are going to have two camps, one in Nigeria and another one in the USA, because some of them are going to school, we will open a camp for them in the US from the camp they will go for the world championship and from there, they will move to the Commonwealth games.

“We are going to compete in a few sports, we are going to compete in 9 sports, we are glad that we are putting our best, based on our findings. We want to leverage on the sports that we know our athletes have been doing well.

“We just pray that our athletes will not have any injuries, they will not have any incident, they will go there and make Nigeria proud.

Minister however, thanked all the federations for their consistency in qualifying, as some of them went extra miles to raise the fund to prosecute those qualifiers for their fund approval.

However, the Games are held from July 28 to August 8.

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Sports

Akinwunmi Hails Girls, Praises Tinubu Sports Reforms

Published

3 hours ago

November 8, 2026

The Gleamer

The former First Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation and former Chairman of the Lagos State Football Association spoke in Lagos moments after the Flamingos beat Japan in the final to become the first African country ever to lift the trophy.

Akinwunmi also gave credit to government.
He hailed the reforms of the National Sports Commission, backed by the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“This victory did not happen by chance,” he said.
“President Tinubu gave sports a clear mandate. Sports is no longer just leisure. It is a national asset. It is a tool for youth empowerment.”

“For years we cried that grassroots football had no money. Today, the NSC has brought structure, accountability and long-term planning.”
For Akinwunmi, it was not just a win. It was the fulfilment of a vision he has carried for over a decade.

“This is not just a trophy. This is history,” Akinwunmi said.

“This is Africa’s first. This is Nigeria showing the world that our girls can be the best in the world.”

“You have proved that ‘Let The Children Play’ was not a slogan. It was a vision that incorporated the development of the girl child and culminated in Lagos State producing successive Falcons’ captains under his watch. Today, that vision is a World Cup.”

Akinwunmi knows what this victory means.
While many administrators focused only on the Super Eagles, he fought for youth and girls football.

He created “Let The Children Play”. He pushed for the NFF/Zenith U15 Women Competition. He pushed for scouting of girls from age 13.

As Chairman of the NFF Youth Development Committee, he wrote the Youth Development Policy. His rule was simple: scout from 13, move them from U13 to U15 to U17 to U20. No win-at-all-cost. Build players for the future.

“Give a girl a ball, give her education, give her a chance,” he used to say. “She will give you a World Cup.”

On Saturday, the girls gave Nigeria a World Cup.
He praised the leadership of the National Sports Commission NSC under the leadership of Mallam Shehu Dikko and Hon. Bukola Olopade, according to him, the difference was clear on the pitch.

This time, the Flamingos had proper camping. They had friendly matches. They had sports science. Their allowances were paid.
“When you treat athletes with dignity, they will give their all on the pitch for Nigeria.”

He said the reforms match his own “Football First” blueprint, which he wrote while at the NFF.

“Focus on grassroots football, focus on youth development. Focus on the leagues, focus on proper organisation, focus on the economy of football. Trophies will follow. Today, the trophy has followed.”

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