Olopade urges Nigeria to look beyond football after fencing gains

Nigeria’s Under-18 women’s basketball team have qualified for the 2027 FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup in China, while the country collected 24 medals at the 2026 Commonwealth Fencing Championship. The achievements have prompted National Sports Commission director-general Bukola Olopade to call for greater attention to sports outside football.

The Junior Tigress secured their World Cup place by beating hosts Ivory Coast in the semi-finals of the FIBA U18 Women’s AfroBasket Championship. They then lost the final to defending champions Mali, but Olopade said the qualification and the team’s response in the semi-final deserved national recognition.

Nigeria also finished as the leading African country at the fencing championship in Lagos, placing third overall behind India after six days of competition involving 20 nations. The hosts won one gold, five silver and 18 bronze medals.

The event produced a landmark result for Nigerian fencing when 17-year-old Oghenegaren Osievwa-Thompson became the first Nigerian to win an international gold medal in the sport. Olopade said the result showed that Nigeria’s competitive strength extends beyond football and argued that so-called lesser sports should receive more respect, support and investment.

Osievwa-Thompson has been placed in Elite Category A of the NSC’s Olympic grants programme, giving him $10,000 every quarter for training and preparations for the Los Angeles 2028 Games. Nigeria’s wheelchair fencing team also received $10,000 in recognition of its performance at the championship.

Football remains Nigeria’s strongest reference point, with the country first in the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 standings on nine points from three matches and a goal record of 8-4. The Super Eagles’ recent sequence is mixed, featuring defeats by Portugal, a draw with Poland, wins over Jamaica and Zimbabwe, and a draw with Jordan, but Olopade’s message is that national sporting success should not be judged through football alone.