SPORTS

Today, the general recognition of the importance of sports has made it to become a vehicle for promoting national unity and projecting the country's image. This has brought about healthy rivalry among all the states of the Federation and helped to project the country's image beyond her borders.

As part of the policy of training Nigerians to man every aspect of sports in the country, the government established a National Institute of Sports (NIS)at the National Stadium Compex, Surulere, Lagos for the training of sports administrators, coaches, sports broadcasters and sport medical specialists. A sports clinic with first aid facilities and ambulance is also attached to the Institute.

Nigeria's first participation in international sports was in the British Empire games of 1950 in Auckland, New Zealand. Since then Nigeria has participated in almost every Commonwealth games where she has won many laurels. The first among these laurels include a silver medal in the high jump event won by J.O. Majekodunmi in 1950 and a Gold Medal four years later won by Emmanuel lfeajuna during the Commonwealth Games, in Vancouver Canada. In subsequent Commonwealth Games, Nigeria has produced many medalists in different events. These medalists include Innocent Egbunike, Chidi Imo, Joe Orewa, Jerry Okorodudu, David Dafiagbon, Mary Onyali, Fatima Yusuf, Falilat Ogunkoya, Kuburat Owolabi, Atanda Musa, Olawumi Majekodunmi etc.

At professional sporting level Nigeria has produced world professional champions in different sports. These include late Hogan Kid Bassey, featherweight champion (19571959) late Dick lhetu Tiger, middleweight champion (19621963), Bashiru Ali, cruiserweight (1987), all in boxing. Other star professional sports performers include Akeem (the dream) Olajuwon in basketball, Atanda Musa in table-tennis and others.

Football is the most popular sport in Nigeria. Competitions are organized among primary, secondary schools, institutions of higher learning and amateur clubs. Industrial establishments in the country are also involved in the game. Several trophies are donated and competed for annually, but the most coveted is the 'Nigeria Challenge Cup' which is competed for yearly by all league clubs in the Federation. The competition began in 1945 when it was known as the Governor's cup. Later it was renamed Football Association (FA) Cup in 1955 and Nigeria Challenge Cup in 1960, the year Nigeria attained independence.

Boxing is the next popular sport in Nigeria to football. The Nigeria Amateur Boxing Association (NABA) was formed in 1950 to ensure effective organisation and control of boxing in the country. Thereare many privately run boxing clubs in the country while NABA is the apex administrative body. Boxing is one of the major events keenly contested for during festivals at national, state and local government levels.

This is another game for which Nigeria is well known. Nigeria had been champion in the game for some time now especially in Africa. She had produced stars like Ethel Jacks, Olawunmi Majckodunmi, Atanda Musa, Yomi Bankole, Kuburat Owolabi etc.

The Nigerian Lawn Tennis Association (NLTA) is the oldest of the country's Association having been formed in 1905. There are more than 200 clubs affiliated to the association. The first All-Nigeria Championships was held in 1927 and since then, many other interstate, national and international competitions have been held. The popularity of the game all over the country, in schools, colleges, universities, clubs and even in private houses can never be over-emphasized.

Although the game of basketball was introduced into many educational institutions as far back as the 1930s, it started featuring in the regular National Sport Calendar by 1965 which was the year the first inter-regional basketball championship held in Lagos. Today, the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) controls both the male and the female associations. Nigeria has competed severally in many clubside and national competitions both as host and participant. Nigeria basketball clubs like First Bank, Lagos, Niger Polters, Benue Braves, Kano Pillars etc. have recorded remarkable performance on the African Continent. The emergence of world stars like Fred Chagu, Akeem (the dream) Olajuwon are testimonies of this effort.

Swimming did not make much impact as a modem sport in Nigeria until recently because of the absence of suitable swimming pools in the country. Today there are Olympic-size swimming pools in several Nigerian cities and towns - Lagos, Benin, Kaduna, Calabar and Bauchi. There are also good swimming pools in many clubs and hotels throughout the Country. The sport is also receiving a tremendous boost. Recent performances of Nigeria indicate that technical competence will grow in the sport among Nigerians.

Cricket is one of the oldest Sports known in Nigeria, But it was mainly a sport played in government schools and colleges and by Britons in Nigeria. Today, Cricket is played in some Nigerian Universities and the Nigerian Cricket Association (NCA) is currently trying hard to popularise the game and gain adequate official recognition for it. There is an annual quadrangular championship among Nigeria, Sierra-Leone, Ghana and the Gambia. There is also an annual six-a-side Cricket championship.

Hockey competitions are organized at inter-club; inter state and inter area competition levels. As part of the efforts to popularise the game, tours of hockey-playing countries are undertaken by the national teams from time to time to beef up standard of play.

Polo is more popular in the northern part of the country because of the readily availability of horses there. But the southern states are also beginning to show keen interest in the game. It is popular among the elite class and military officers. The Nigerian Polo Association (NPA) organises an annual polo tournament, open to all clubs in the country as well as foreign polo clubs. Among the trophies competed for are: the Emir of Katsina Cup (the premier trophy); Porter Cup (for the losing team); the Crasher cup (Winner of Katsina versus the rest) and the Dantata Memorial Cup (among the highest handicap teams).

Although Nigeria has been a member of the Internationa Squash Racket Federation (ISRF) since 1975, Squash Racket has not been as popular as other sporting events

Although wrestling is a traditional sport embraced in every town and village, modern wrestling is relatively new in the country. Nonetheless, pioneers such as Sokarti Soberekon, Michael Okpala (Power Mike), late Michael Bamidele, Maman Zaria, Ben Lion Heart and Power Uti have proved that there is a future for modern, professional wrestling in Nigeria. The exploits of Nigerian wrestlers at such competitons like the all Africa games, commonwealth games and the Olympics show a lot of promise.

Weight lifting competitions are sponsored by states and the Federal Government. The Nigeria Weightlifting Federation is responsible for the general supervision of weight lifting competitions in the country.
The actual date when modern weightlifting started in Nigeria is not certain, but its growth has been quite rapid.

Nigeria's official interest in Judo as an organized sport began in 1973 when the National Amateur Judo Association (NAJA) was formed. This followed the brilliant performances put up by young Nigerians who were hurriedly trained to represent the country at the 2nd All-Africa Games in Lagos, in January of that year.

Handball is another sport growing in popularity, especially in secondary schools and teacher training colleges. The Nigerian Handball Association (NHA) organises regular competitions among the states and Nigeria takes active part in International Competitions, both at individual club, state clubs and the national teams. There are several Nigerians playing professional handball in Cote D'ivore and Europe. Other sports being actively encouraged are: Badminton, Volleyball, Cycling, Golf, Gymnastics and Taekwando.

Since 1973, the country has always organized a National sport Festival every two years, the aim of which is to discover potential talents in all spheres of sports.

As part of its programme for sports development, the Federal Government has established a N5 million National sports Trust Fund (NSTF) to cater for sportsmen and women who had put Nigeria on the World's sport map.