The Federal Ministry of Sports has unveiled Nigeria’s participation plan for the upcoming 13th African Games in Ghana, set to take place from March 8 to March 23. Simultaneously, they announced the list of athletes qualified for the Paris Olympics, scheduled for July 26 to Aug. 11.
Amaka Ashiofu, Acting Director, Federation, Elites and Athletes Development (FEAD), shared the exciting news during a meeting with various sports federations in Abuja on Thursday. Ashiofu stated, “The African Games are open, and we are thrilled to participate in 23 sports.”
The featured sports include athletics, badminton, cycling, swimming, table tennis, tennis, triathlon, wrestling, arm wrestling, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, chess, cricket, football, handball, hockey, judo, karate, rugby, taekwondo, volleyball, and weightlifting.
According to Ashiofu, Nigeria will bring three demonstration sports to the African Games: mixed martial arts, scrabble, and teqball.
Regarding the Paris Olympics preparations, Ashiofu mentioned the country’s involvement in 12 sports, emphasizing efforts towards achieving podium finishes. The sports include athletics, boxing, canoeing, wrestling, basketball women, badminton, football women, rowing, swimming, taekwondo, table tennis, and weightlifting.
“We have already qualified three athletes in athletics,” Ashiofu revealed. “Tobi Amusan for women’s 100m; Ezekiel Nathaniel for men’s 400m; and Edose Egbadi for men’s 800m.”
She continued, “In boxing, Olaitan Olaore, Dalapo Omole, and Cynthia Ogunsimilore have secured qualifications in the men’s 92kg, men’s 57kg, and women’s 60kg categories, respectively. For canoeing, Ayomide Bello and Beauty Etuku have qualified in Women C2 500m and Women C1 200m.”
Ashiofu added that qualification efforts were ongoing and that more athletes were expected to secure spots in the remaining sports.
“The remaining sports on the pathway for qualification are basketball women, badminton, football women, rowing, swimming, taekwondo, table tennis, and weightlifting,” she highlighted.
Thecla Opara, Acting Director, Para Sports, also addressed preparations for the Paralympics, revealing Nigeria’s participation in five sports: para athletics, para powerlifting, para table tennis, para-badminton, and para canoeing.
“Para Athletics already has two qualified athletes, while Para Powerlifting has ten athletes on the pathway to qualification,” Opara explained. “Para Table Tennis has nine confirmed participants, with more qualifiers scheduled before the August Games. Para-badminton has eight athletes on the pathway, and para-canoeing has one qualified athlete, with more on the pathway to qualify.”
Opara assured that the ministry was diligently working to identify camps in Abuja and Lagos based on the number of qualified athletes for thorough preparation ahead of the Games.
