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Nigeria @ 60: Nigeria Sports Mouthpiece Recognizes 10 Deserving Sports Administrators

Published

6 years ago

October 1, 2020

The Nigeria Sports Mouthpiece NSM is a leading sport online platform, renowned for its many successes in sports journalism, sports promotion, and sports branding.

As part of our corporate responsibility of always informing the public about the latest sports news making the rounds, we also feel, we have the duty of identifying deserving sportsmen and women who have invested their money into promoting sports in no small measures.

We have also identified those who have excelled in their chosen fields as outstanding personalities worthy of recognition and acceptance.

On this auspicious occasion of Nigeria’s 60th anniversary celebration, we have carefully nominated the following individuals for consideration for national awards.

These individuals were selected from a poll conducted on the NSM website. After the poll which had over 22,000 Nigerians participating, the following ten sports icons emerged as Nigeria’s most outstanding sports personalities deserving of national recognition.

MR KUNLE SONAME.

Kunle Soname is a Nigerian politician, entrepreneur, sports enthusiast, and the chairman of Bet9ja, a betting website he founded in 2013.

He is also the first Nigerian to acquire a European club C.D. Feirense of Portugal a club he bought in 2015.

Over time, Bet9ja has been one of the hottest online gambling innovations in Nigeria.

Bet9ja has become a household name in Nigeria and a leading brand in the Nigerian sports betting(gambling) industry.

In 2017, Bet9ja signed a 200 Million Naira sponsorship agreement with the Nigeria National football league NNL, which is the second tier league of Nigeria football.

They also sponsored other major sporting events like the annual Remo Marathon, the Bet9ja table tennis championship, the basketball championship, the Ogun youth league among others.

The chairman and owner of Bet9ja, is also the founder and owner of the Remo stars football club of Ogun State, a club that is currently in the Nigeria National League.

For all his efforts, Mr Kunle Soname deserves to be appreciated for his selfless service to humanity as he is one of the biggest employers of labour in the South West with over 500 workers presently working and receiving salary on a monthly basis under his watch, this ICON OF OUR TIME deserves to be celebrated for his service to humanity.

SENATOR PATRICK IFEANYI UBAH

Senator Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah has done so well in just a short time, to stand out as one of Nigeria’s top sports administrators deserving of National recognition. The president of FC Ifeanyi Ubah came into the scene in late 2012 when he was first appointed youth football ambassador by the then NFF president Aminu Maigari.

Since then, Senator Ubah has gone on to become the president of the NPFL side, FC Ifeanyi Ubah, a club that has won the federation cup and represented Nigeria in the CAF Confederation Cup.

Senator Ubah is an icon of the game and a respected football administrator around the world.

The multi-billion naira FC Ifeanyi Ubah Stadium is the biggest and the best privately owned stadia in Nigeria presently and it is on record that this facility hosted a CAF Confederation cup match a few years back.

Senator Ubah remains the first club owner to pay a Nigerian footballer 2m naira monthly, a feat that is still being celebrated in the Nigerian professional football league to date.

A member of the CAF AFCON organizing committee, senator Ubah seats amongst the very best brains in the Confederation of African and has continued to contribute his quota to moving the continental football body forward

The one Football, One family initiative, which was conceptualized by Senator Ubah to identify a footballer from every home in Nigeria and give him or her a ball and a pair of football boot, is still in the pipeline, while the deal between FC Ifeanyi Ubah and West Ham United remains the first major partnership deal involving a Nigerian Clubside and an EPL team.

For these achievements, Nigerians have nominated Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, for National recognition and award.

AMAJU MELVIN PINNICK

Nigeria football federation president, Amaju Melvin Pinnick has done so well for himself in just a short while, to stand out as one of the icons of Africa and world football. His elevation to the exalted seat of CAF 1st Vice president, after championing Ahmad Ahmad’s emergence as CAF president, cannot go unnoticed.

He has also played a key role in helping to position over 10 Nigerians in top positions in CAF and FIFA and remains the only Nigerian in history to serve as match commissioner at the FIFA world cup.

Under his watch, Nigeria qualified for the 2018 world cup in Russia and won bronze at the 2019 Nations Cup in Egypt.

For these reasons, Nigerians believe he deserves a National award for his contributions to Nigeria football development.

BUKOLA OLOPADE

This former Commissioner for Sports in Ogun state will be remembered for hosting what has been adjudged the best National sports festival ever staged in the history of Nigeria.

He has since outgrown that sterling achievement to announce himself as a key promoter of long distance races in Nigeria and Africa. In the last five years, the Lagos Marathon sponsored by Access Bank has continued to attract international commendation even as he has moved a step further with the Remo Marathon, the Ogun state Marathon, the Abuja Marathon, and now the Kaduna Marathon holding in November 2020.

For these reasons, 85 per cent of the voters nominated Mr. Bukola Olopade CEO of Nilayo sports marketing agency, for National recognition and award.

RAFIU LADIPO

The President-General of Nigeria football and other sports supporters club, Rafiu Ladipo stands out as Nigeria’s number one sports supporter still alive and deserves full recognition for his immense contribution to Nigeria sport. Ladipo has been at the forefront of football supporters for more than five decades and was among the founding fathers of the supporters club in Nigeria.

He started by spending his personal money in promoting and supporting the Nigerian brand and has remained ever-consistent till date.

At the US 94 world cup, the Supporters club got FIFA’S recognition as they were voted the best supporters group at the global football Fiesta. Ladipo has continued to stand out as a leader in the face of the proliferation that has seen the emergence of three other supporters group.

For these reasons, Nigerians have unanimously voted him as one of the ICONS of our sports in the last 60years.

FELIX AYANSI AGWU

For winning back to back CAF champions league, Enyimba FC of Aba, amiable chairman, Felix Ayansi Agwu deserves to be identified amongst the top 10 icons of Nigeria sports in the last 60 years. That feat by Enyimba will remain indelible in the hearts of Nigeria football fans who see the NFF executive committee member as one of the best club chairmen that ever came out of this continent.

He has gone on to lead the Aba elephants to more successes in the NPFL and has further strengthened the brand called Enyimba football club of Aba

This intelligent, calm, and collected achiever has helped himself to this list purely on merit.

HON. NDUKA IRABOR.

Appointed as the first chairman of the League Management Company, LMC by Alhaji Aminu Maigari, Honourable Nduka Irabor made the Nigerian professional football league a big brand that instantly attracted sponsors like multichoice, owners of Super sports.

The Super Sports deal sustained the league and brought smiles to the faces of club owners, managers, and players.

His administrative brilliance was second to none and he did his utmost in placing Nigeria league among the top 5 leagues on the continent.

For that reason, voters gave him 84% thumbs up.

8 PROF. YAHAYA UKWUENYA

Cricket is not as popular as football but under the leadership of Prof Ukwenya, Nigeria qualified for her first ICC World Cup in South Africa and the Nigerian U19 team also qualified and took part in the 2020 ICC U19 World Cup in South Africa.

It wasn’t a good World Cup debut, but Nigeria defeated Japan to finish 15 out of the 16 participating countries.

For the first time, the Nigerian women cricket national team also took part in the African cricket tournament.

Prof Ukwenya has been monitoring and ensuring that cricket facilities are in top shape now that the Federal Government and Ministry have lifted the ban on the non-contact sport.

Players have commenced training across the states in preparation for the next continental tournament.

These giant strides made over 75 percent of the voters nominate professor Yahaya Ukwuenya as one of the icons of Nigeria sports at 60.

ENGINEER MUSA KIDA.

In four years, Engineer Musa Kida has achieved more than his predecessor Tijani Umar did within the same period. Umar led D’Tigers to the Afro Basketball championship while Kida led the D’Tigress to achieve the same feat.

Kida also qualified Nigeria male and female Basketball teams to the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo and it is on record that under this board, a Nigerian Basketballer Ifeanyi Festus Ezeli helped the Golden state warriors to win the NBA championship, a feat that was celebrated by his national teammates back home.

Under his watch, the Nigeria male and female Basketball leagues also got corporate sponsorships

Kida has continued to achieve without making much noise no wonder he got 82 percent of the votes to make our list of top 10 sports icons in the last 60years.

DANIEL IGALI

Wrestling is indeed a force to be reckoned with because of the dedication and commitment of Mr. Daniel Igali who saw the need and took the lead.

The 2018 African Wrestling Championship brought glamour to our dear country Nigeria as the city of Portharcourt was the focal point of the event that hosted 11 countries.

Nigeria paraded the very best as they came out tops in the men and women’s freestyle dominating the North Africans who were tipped before the event to come out tops.

The likes of Amas Daniel, Ebikewenimo Welson, Ogbonna John, Ekerekeme Agiomor, Odunnayo Adekuroye, Aminat Adeniyi, Blessing Oborodudu, Mercy Genesis finished at the podium to lift the green white green high.

Fast forward to the commonwealth games Nigeria finished second in the world with 3 gold, 2 Silver and 3 Bronze.

Wrestling came with full force at the 2019 games with Nigeria topping the medal chart for the 7th time in a row with a total of 12 medals, 7 gold, 4 silver, and one bronze medal.

Then to the World Championships (in Kazakhstan) last year, where Odunayo Adekuoroye (57kg) qualified for the Olympics by winning a bronze medal.

It might interest us to know that Blessing Oborududu (68kg) is No. 4 and Adekuoroye Odunayo (57kg) is No. 2 in the world.

The Vice President of the Commonwealth Wrestling board is indeed a role model, a man who represented Canada in 2000, won Gold, and later decided to serve is fatherland should be given some accolades.

He got 87% of the votes to join the NSM list of outstanding icons

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Strategic Partnerships, Diaspora Investment and Improved Workforce Critical to Industrialization-DG RMRDC

Published

18 hours ago

November 12, 2026

The Gleamer

By: Stella Azi and Adaora Adibe

The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, has called for a strategic shift from the exportation of raw commodities to domestic processing, manufacturing and value addition, declaring that Nigeria possesses enormous untapped raw material resources capable of driving industrialisation, creating jobs and strengthening the country’s economic competitiveness.

Prof. Ike-Muonso made this submission in a lecture titled Unlocking Nigeria’s Raw Material Value Chain for Industrialization, Manufacturing and Competitiveness, where he presented an extensive assessment of Nigeria’s resource endowments, industrial challenges and emerging investment opportunities across agricultural commodities, solid minerals and waste-based raw materials.

The lecture highlighted a combined US$2.65 trillion global market opportunity across 30 major raw material value chains, comprising 12 agricultural value chains valued at US$932 billion, 11 mineral value chains worth US$1.352 trillion and seven circular-economy value chains estimated at US$366 billion.

According to the RMRDC Boss, Nigeria must move beyond the traditional approach of extracting and exporting raw materials to building competitive domestic industries that transform these resources into intermediate products, industrial inputs and finished goods for local consumption and international markets.

He observed that the country’s manufacturing sector has struggled to sustain its 2014 peak, with its contribution to real Gross Domestic Product declining from 9.64 per cent in 2014 to 8.05 per cent in 2025, representing a 16.5 per cent decline. He also drew attention to the increasing cost of raw material imports, which rose to US$20.5 billion in 2025, approximately six times the 2020 level.

He explained that the growing dependence on imported industrial inputs exposes Nigerian manufacturers to foreign exchange volatility, increases production costs and weakens the competitiveness of locally manufactured products.

Prof. ke-Muonso stressed that the solution lies in developing domestic raw material value chains through deliberate investment in processing facilities, research and development, technology, infrastructure and stronger linkages between producers, processors and manufacturers.

He identified agriculture, solid minerals and industrial waste as three major resource platforms for Nigeria’s industrial transformation, stating the country’s significant production capacity and the enormous opportunities available for downstream processing.

Ike-Muonso noted that Nigeria produces over 63 million metric tonnes of cassava annually, making it the world’s largest producer, while also maintaining strong positions in cocoa, cashew, sesame, palm oil and cotton. However, more than 80 per cent of agricultural output leaves farms without adequate processing, resulting in the loss of significant economic value and industrial opportunities.

In the solid minerals sector, he identified more than 44 commercially viable minerals across over 500 locations, including lithium, gold, barite, bitumen, iron ore and high-grade limestone, describing them as strategic resources capable of supporting steel production, energy storage, electrification and advanced manufacturing.

The DG further drew attention to Nigeria’s industrial and agro-waste resources, noting that the country generates over 32 million tonnes of solid waste annually. He explained that agricultural residues, cassava peels, scrap metals, plastics and electronic waste could serve as important feedstock for bio-fertilisers, industrial chemicals, recycled polymers, energy production and other manufacturing applications.

In the agricultural sector, the DG identified cassava and industrial starch, cotton and natural textiles, natural rubber and elastomers, oil palm and oleochemicals, maize derivatives and cocoa processing as priority areas requiring increased investment.

He explained that processing agricultural commodities into industrial starch, sweeteners, textiles, technical rubber, specialty fats and other intermediate products would enable Nigeria to capture more value from its agricultural resources while reducing dependence on imported industrial inputs.

For the minerals sector, he highlighted crude oil-to-olefins and petrochemicals, lithium and energy storage, iron ore and steel, rare earth elements, bauxite and aluminium, and copper and electrification as strategic investment opportunities.

He particularly emphasised the importance of moving beyond mineral extraction into beneficiation, refining, battery precursors, industrial chemicals, metal fabrication and advanced materials production.

On the circular economy, Prof. Ike-Muonso identified electronic waste recovery, scrap metal recycling, plastic waste processing, agro-waste valorisation and battery recycling as emerging industrial opportunities.

He explained that transforming waste into productive industrial feedstock would not only reduce environmental pollution but also create new manufacturing industries, generate employment and reduce the importation of valuable industrial materials.

He noted that to address the structural challenges confronting raw material-based industrialisation, the DG highlighted the strategic interventions of the RMRDC, particularly the proposed 30% Value Addition Bill and the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP).

He described the 30% Value Addition Bill as an important policy instrument designed to encourage domestic processing of raw materials before export, strengthen local manufacturing capacity and guarantee access to essential raw materials for Nigerian industries, and NISSRAMP as a critical data infrastructure that would improve access to verified information on the availability, location and quality of raw materials.

According to him, the combination of appropriate policy instruments and reliable resource data would help de-risk investments, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s raw material sector.

He emphasised the importance of collaboration among government, academia and industry in developing bankable projects, sharing investment risks and accelerating the establishment of processing and manufacturing facilities.

Professor Ike-Muonso called on Nigerians in the diaspora and other local and international investors to take advantage of the opportunities available in Nigeria’s raw material sector.

He identified industrial processing parks, mineral beneficiation and refining, agro-industrial platforms, circular-material processing, industrial input manufacturing and enabling infrastructure as viable investment platforms.

He noted that diaspora investors could contribute beyond financial capital by bringing technology, international business networks, governance standards, technical expertise and access to global markets.

He maintained that Nigeria’s industrial transformation requires coordinated investment across the entire value chain, from raw material sourcing and aggregation to processing, manufacturing, certification and export development.

Professor Ike-Muonso stressed that the country’s industrial future would depend not merely on the volume of raw materials extracted but on the capacity to transform them into competitive products that meet domestic and international market requirements.

He maintained that developing local value chains would stimulate industrial growth, create employment opportunities, diversify exports, conserve foreign exchange and deepen Nigeria’s technological capabilities.

Through its strategic interventions, the RMRDC is positioning itself as a critical bridge between resource availability, investment opportunities and industrial competitiveness, with the ultimate objective of transforming Nigeria from a predominantly raw material exporting economy into a strong manufacturing and value-adding nation.

Ike-Muonso has demonstrated this since assumption of office as the Director General/ CEO RMRDC in the area of capacity building, improved working conditions, promotion of merit, and maintaining a conducive environment that rewards excellence, innovation and dedication. This is evident in his institution of RMRDC training school, reward for winners of the RMRDC innovation challenge among others.

His commitment has brought recognition both nationally and internationally: Al-Jazirah double honour awards as Public Servant /Government Agency of the year 2024-2025 and the recent election as the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Representative on the Board of the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organisations (WAITRO) is a attestation to his commitment.

Concluding the lecture, the DG charged staff, researchers, manufacturers and investors to see themselves as nation builders in the new era of raw materials-led industrialization.

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