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Tag: National Sports Commission (NSC)

  • Ahead LA28: ‘Category A’  Elite Athletes to get NSC-approved $20,000 training grant

    Ahead LA28: ‘Category A’  Elite Athletes to get NSC-approved $20,000 training grant

    • Weightlifting quartet to receive first tranche payment  next week
    • Olopade boosts NWF contingent in Moka with $3,800 

     In the bid  to enhance podium finish  for Team Nigeria  Athletes  at the  Los Angeles 2028 Olympics Games  otherwise known as LA28, National Sports Commission (NSC), has  approved  an impressive sum of $20,000 USD as  the annual training grants for  athletes  on the A Category of its  Elite Programme of the Elite Athletes and Podium Board of the Commission.

    The NSC in February inaugurated the  Yusuf Ali-led Elite Athletes and Podium Board of the Commission with the Chairman of the NSC, Mallam Shehu Dikko, saying  ‘the board has been established to solve all the lingering problems that are always associated with Nigerian athletes and their performances at major international competitions’.

    As a morale booster to Team Nigeria’s  lifters at the on-going  2025 Africa Weightlifting Championship in Mauritius, the  DG of the NSC , Honourable Bukola Olapade, yesterday  revealed  that  each athlete in the A Category on Elite Board would henceforth receive $20,000 USD as training grants , adding that  four out of the six lifters in Moka for the  continental  championships who are on that exclusive list  would from next week  receive their  first tranche payment.  

    Olopade who is in Mauritius to boost the team’s morale at the championship, a  personal  donation of Three Thousand, Eight Hundred Dollars ( $3800USD ) to athletes and officials during a meeting  with the Nigeria Weightlifting Federation (NWF)  contingent , even as he noted that the  women’s quartet of  Onome Didih, Rafiatu Folashade Lawal , Omolola Matthew and Sarah Ovayioza have been shortlisted for training grants.

    ” I bring you greetings from the Chairman of the Commission Mallam Shehu Dikko, who is the father of Sports in Nigeria,” Olapade was quoted  as  saying in a NSC Bulleting shared with NationSports.” He actually told me that I should remind you that weightlifting is part of the sport that as a country, we have a competitive edge as far as Africa and the World is concerned, so you must try to win a lot of medals here in Mauritius”.

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    ” Therefore my slogan for you here in Mauritius is, more Gold , more money. As you are winning, you are getting your alert.”

    He added: ” I am also glad to inform you all that four of you have been shortlisted into the A Category of the Elite Programme of the Elite Athletes and Podium Board of the Commission and will get 20,000 Dollars each as your annual training grants. And by next week, the four of you will get 5000 Dollars each as part of your training grants.

    ” Your welfare is very paramount to us and it is a core mandate of the Commission under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to prioritise the welfare and well-being of our Elite Athletes.

    ” With this, you guys can now concentrate on your preparations without any distractions for the Commonwealth Games, the World Championship and ultimately the Olympic Games,” he concluded.

  • Ogun 2025  : NSC Inaugurates Sub-Committees for National Sports Festival

    Ogun 2025  : NSC Inaugurates Sub-Committees for National Sports Festival

    The National Sports Commission (NSC)  has inaugurated  a 19 sub-committees to ensure the successful hosting of the 22nd  National Sports Festival tagged Gateway Games Ogun 2025  scheduled to hold between May 16  and 30.

    Speaking during the inauguration ceremony held yesterday  at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, the Director General of the NSC, Honourable Bukola Olopade, described the National Sports Festival as Nigeria’s version of the Olympics and a platform through which the nation identifies, nurtures, and develops its best athletes to represent the country at international competitions.

    He recalled that the Main Organising Committee, inaugurated by the former Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, was tasked with ensuring a hitch-free and successful festival. Olopade added that, given the calibre of individuals appointed to the sub-committees, he is confident that the mandate of the games will be achieved.

    “I am satisfied with the calibre of people that make up the sub-committees and have no doubt that the games will meet the expectations of Nigerians,” he stated.

    He emphasized that the ultimate goal is to host a festival that will be appreciated both nationally and internationally, stressing that anything short of excellence would not be acceptable.

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    He therefore charged the committee members to be proactive and committed to delivering a seamless event, declaring that “failure is not an option.”

    Earlier in her remarks, the Director of the National Sports Festival and Para-sports Department, Mrs. Thecla Opara, expressed confidence in the ability of the sub-committee members to deliver on their responsibilities.

    She noted that the sub-committees serve as the foot soldiers of the Main Organising Committee, tasked with executing all necessary activities to ensure a smooth and successful festival.

    Also speaking, Deputy Director Patrick Abobi, on behalf of the sub-committees, thanked the Commission for the opportunity to serve. He acknowledged the high expectations placed on them and affirmed that achieving the festival’s mandate is a task that must be accomplished.

  • NSC salutes D’Tigers on 2025 FIBA  AfroBasket ticket 

    NSC salutes D’Tigers on 2025 FIBA  AfroBasket ticket 

    The Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Hon. Bukola Olopade, has congratulated Nigeria’s senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, on securing their qualification for the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket tournament. 

    Nigeria, the 2015 AfroBasket champions, staged a remarkable comeback after starting the qualifiers with three consecutive losses. The team delivered huge performances against Libya and Uganda to secure their ticket to the Angolan capital before another convincing win over Cape Verde 77-62 points in their final game on Sunday.

    Olopade commended the team’s efforts and resilience throughout the qualifiers, reaffirming the NSC’s commitment to supporting Nigerian basketball. 

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    “This qualification is a testament to the talent and determination of our players, coaches, and the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF). The National Sports Commission remains dedicated to ensuring that Nigerian basketball continues to thrive on the global stage,” he stated. 

    He  further emphasized the importance of early preparations to ensure a strong outing at the 2025 AfroBasket tournament. 

    D’Tigers will now shift focus to their preparations for the competition, aiming to make a significant impact when the tournament tips off in August later this year. 

    This year’s tournament will be the 31st edition of the FIBA AfroBasket, with Tunisia as defending champions.

    The tournament will be hosted by Angola for the fourth time between August  12 and 24.

  • NSC enlists Ochei’s  support to boost sports development 

    NSC enlists Ochei’s  support to boost sports development 

    In a ground-breaking effort to reposition sports as a cornerstone of Nigeria’s economy and culture, the Director General, National Sports Commission (NSC), Bukola Olopade, has embarked on an aggressive campaign to market sports as a national asset.

    During a breakfast meeting with Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, Chairman, Davnotch Nigeria Limited, a lover of sports and a leading advocate of sports development in Nigeria, at his Abuja residence, Olopade sought Ochei’s unflinching support for President  Bola Tinubu’s vision for Nigeria’s sports development as  enshrined in the Renewed Hope agenda.

    Rt. Hon. Ochei, renowned for his outstanding investments and support for professional and grassroots sports, not only accepted an invitation to serve as a Patron of the Paralympics Committee of Nigeria, but equally pledged to expand his investments in Nigeria’s Sports sector following the consultative visit of the DG.

     “President Tinubu’s decision to entrust Sports administration to seasoned professionals led by my brother and friend, Bukola Olopade, signals a transformative era and I thank Mr. President for shopping for highly experienced professionals to address the developmental needs of our nation and to close existing gaps,” Ochei reportedly said in release by the NSC. 

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    ” I consider your appointment as a renewed opportunity for Sports – loving individuals and corporations to collaborate in building a thriving economy from sports, particularly through championing initiatives that promote grassroots competition in track events, gymnastics, ball games and aquatic sports.”

    It is worthy of note that over the past 15 years, Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei’s contributions to Sports development in Nigeria have been monumental, blazing trail in standards for private sector involvement as a driving force behind the remarkable growth of wheelchair basketball in Nigeria.

    Through his companies, Ochei has consistently funded the Tennis Federation, ensuring the sport’s sustained growth in Nigeria aimed at enhancing its international competitiveness.

    His evident grassroots sports development footprints bear a testament of an on-going construction of a state-of-the-art stadium in Delta State to nurture young talents in sports and foster all inclusive community sports engagement, involving people with physical challenges.

    During the meeting, Rt. Hon. Ochei pledged to broaden his investment scopes, particularly in underfunded sports like tennis, cricket, and Paralympics. He emphasized that with the trust placed in Olopade’s professional leadership, Nigerian sports development is poised for global competitiveness with prospects of rapid economic transformation.

    Olopade highlighted the strategic importance of collaboration with figures like Rt. Hon. Ochei.

    “This meeting has reinforced my belief in our collective vision to create a viable economy around sports and to collaborate in President Bola Tinubu’s mission to rebuild Nigeria’s sports,” he said.

    He added: ” Ochei my brother, your extraordinary contributions over the years qualify you as a worthy candidate for a National Award. Your contributions in nation building, particularly the sports sector embody the spirit of sportsmanship and progress that we need to propel Nigeria onto the global stage.”

  • Poor Rio outing: Calls for sports commission return thickens

    With Team Nigeria’s poor showing at the just concluded Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, the call for the return of the scrapped National Sports Commission (NSC) continues to increase.

    Sports buffs believe the official bottleneck in the Ministry of Youth and Sports may have taken its toll on the preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

    They believe through the NSC, the bureaucracy can be eliminated to help in terms of preparation of athletes for major competitions.

    Speaking on local television on Monday, Sydney 2000 gold medalist, Enefiok Udo-Obong blamed the bottleneck in the ministry as a major factor to poor showing in Rio.

    The former athlete who was in Brazil for the Olympic Games said it is high time that the sports federations and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) were empowered to run their various sports.

    “I think the idea of the Ministry of Youth and Sports is another major setback to sports because the bottleneck within the ministry has drawn us back in the sports. Funds should be released directly to the federations to run their various sports while the NOC coordinates and supervises them (federations).

    “It is pathetic that Great Britain that finished below Nigeria at the Atlanta 96 Olympic Games now finished second overall ahead of China while Nigeria managed to pick one bronze medal. We need to do something to help our sports at this time,” he said.

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  • Calls for NSC return thickens

    With Team Nigeria’s poor showing at the just concluded Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, the call for the return of the scrapped National Sports Commission (NSC) continues to increase.

    Sports buffs believe the official bottleneck in the Ministry of Youth and Sports may have taken its toll on the preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

    They believe through the NSC, the bureaucracy can be eliminated to help in terms of preparation of athletes for major competitions.

    Speaking on local television yesterday, Sydney 2000 gold medalist,  Enefiok Udo-Obong blamed the bottleneck in the ministry as a major factor to poor showing in Rio.

    The former athlete who was in Brazil for the Olympic Games said it is high time that the sports federations and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) were empowered to run their various sports.

    “I think the idea of the Ministry of Youth and Sports is another major setback to sports because the bottleneck within the ministry has drawn us back in the sports. Funds should be released directly to the federations to run their various sports while the NOC coordinates and supervises them (federations). It is pathetic that Great Britain that finished below Nigeria at the Atlanta 96 Olympic Games now finished second overall ahead of China while Nigeria managed to pick one bronze medal. We need to do something to help our sports at this time,” he said.

     

     

  • 31 hours to RIO OlYMPICS: Presidency rescues Dream Team

    31 hours to RIO OlYMPICS: Presidency rescues Dream Team

    Nigeria’s U-23 national team were airlifted last night by an  aircraft in the presidential fleet to bail out the National Sports Commission (NSC) from further disgrace. The presidency had to come to the team’s rescue after the NSC were struggling to sort out the team’s trip.

    A call from the Vice President, Yemi Osibajo was enough to lift the morale in the team’s Atlanta camp which had been low due to absence of funds.

    Reports from the team’s Indigo Hotel revealed that the restive players and officials had moved from their rooms to the reception awaiting further directives.

    Although the arrangement looks dusted, SportingLife understands that the VP wanted to know from those in charge of the team how they intend to secure a landing permit for the presidential jet in Brazil.

    “I am very sure that will be sorted out before the team finally departs since the presidency is involved,” said our source.

    The Dream Team were expected to have left Atlanta since Monday but were unable due to the inability of the authorities to purchase flight tickets.

    Another source also informed SportingLife that N100m was needed to charter an aircraft for the team from Atlanta but with a budget of N600m for the NSC to work with proved impossible.

    Going by its itinerary, the team has about 31 hours to its opening match against Japan.

    The team has not been training and may not train when it lands in Manuas due to jet lag. They will play their opening match at the  Amazona Arena at 8pm Brazilian time tonight (2am Nigeria time).

    Nigeria will also face Sweden and Colombia at the Rio Olympics.

     The team has been in Atlanta for close to a month for the final phase of its training tour.

  • ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Why I couldn’t make it to Sudan – Oshonaike

    ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Why I couldn’t make it to Sudan – Oshonaike

    After absenting herself from the 2016 ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup in Sudan, six-time Olympian, Olufunke Oshonaike has blamed it on paucity of fund.

    The trio of Aruna Quadri, Segun Toriola and Edem Offiong had to sponsor themselves to the tournament after the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) failed the secure the needed fund for the trip from the National Sports Commission (NSC).

    However, the Germany-based star told NationSport from her base in Hamburg that she would have loved to be at the tournament but she could not raise the fund to prosecute the trip. She lamented that it is disheartening that athletes had to be using their hard-earned money to represent their fatherland.

    “I don’t think this is too good for the country that in the year of the Olympics and we had a competition that would have helped us prepare well and unfortunately we could not get fund from NSC. At several times, we had to sponsor ourselves to competition and I think this is not too good for us because we also have responsibilities to our family,” she lamented.

    For the players competing at the Rio Olympics, Oshonaike tasked NSC to support all athletes to fulfil their dream of making the country proud. “Being the Olympics year, I want to use this medium to task the NSC to please support every athlete going to the Olympics in Brazil because this is the biggest stage for all of us,” she added.

    Meanwhile, Nigerian players failed to make it to the final in the women event after Edem Offiong was defeated 4-1 in the semifinal by Egypt’s Dina Meshref.

  • NSC needs 1,100 additional beds for 6,459 contingent for NYG

    NSC needs 1,100 additional beds for 6,459 contingent for NYG

    the National Sports Commission (NSC) on Wednesday said it needed 1,100 additional bed spaces to accommodate the 6,459 contingent for the forthcoming National Youth Games (NYG ).

    Alhassan Yakmut, the Director of Grassroots Sports and Development, at the commission, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that efforts were on to resolve the accommodation problem.

    According to him, 2,448 athletes will participate in the games besides the officials and they need an environment conducive for such a competition.

    “We need 4,500 bed spaces and so far we have 3,400 bed spaces at the NYSC Orientation Camp in Kubwa, and we are already collaborating with the authorities of the College of Education in Zuba. We are also negotiating on the use of 600 bed spaces at the Civil Defence Corps’ Training Centre in Sauka. “They have 248 bed spaces: 124 for male and 124 for female. And we are also negotiating for partnership with the management of the Women Development Centre where there are more than 100 bed spaces. All in all, we have identified our stakeholders that we will collaborate with. There will be inspection of facilities again to be sure of the exact facilities that are in packages A and B that will be used for the games.

    Yakmut said further that the transport committee and the committees in charge of security and medical had made their submissions as to what they needed to ensure a hitch-free competition. He said everything had been put in place to ensure that athletes moved with ease from their camps to the venue of the competition.

    “The percentage of preparation keeps increasing as the event approaches, but for now, we don’t have problems with the operational plan as we have already begun the implementation of the plan.”