Nigeria may be a country of children then sports may be a major segment within the county. That has been the case since the 40s and intensified after independence. albeit football has haunted a lion share of your time and resources, many other sports like athletics, boxing, basketball have thrown up memorable moments. Premium Times runs a microscope over some noteworthy sporting moments in Nigeria since the country got its independence from the uk in 1960.
1. Ajunwa’s Nigeria’s first individual Olympic gold in 1996
Arguably the biggest sporting accolade has been the individual Olympic gold medal won by Chioma Ajunwa at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA. Ajunwa became the first athlete in Nigeria to win an Olympic gold medal and is also the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event. She remains Nigeria’s only individual Olympic gold medalist to date.
2. First African football Olympic gold in 1996
Nigeria became the first African country to win the Olympic gold in the football event at the 1996 Olympics. The team, captained by Nwankwo Kanu, went the circuitous route; coming from 3-1 down to Brazil in the semi-final to win 4-3 with a sudden-death goal from Kanu and then repeating the feat against Argentina in the final.
3. Maiyegun won Nigeria’s first Olympic medal in 1964
Nojeem Maiyegun represented Nigeria at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, then he won the bronze medal in the men’s Light Middleweight category and enter the history books as Nigeria’s first Olympic medalist.
4. U-17 national football team won the FIFA U-17 Championship in China in 1985
The national cadet team, the Golden Eaglets, were the inaugural winners of the U-17 World Championship, as it was known in 1985, that was held in China. The team coached by Sebastien Brodericks and Christian Chukwu beat Germany in the final 2-0, with goals from Babatunde Joseph and Jonathan Akpoborie.
5. Super Eagles qualified for the 1994 World Cup in the USA
After six unsuccessful attempts to join the elite of world football, a team led by the late Stephen Keshi and coached by Clemens Westerhof eked out a 1-1 draw away to Algeria on October 8, 1993, at the Stade du 5 Juillet 1962, Algiers. Finidi George scored Nigeria’s goal in the 19th minute, and the Algerians equalized through Sidi Ahmed Zerrouki with 19 minutes left on the clock. The Eagles held on to book their place in the 1994 World Cup that was held in the United States of America.
6. The ‘Damman Miracle’ in 1989 at the FIFA U-20 World Cup
The Nigeria U-20 national football team, the Flying Eagles, came back from a 4-0 deficit to Russia, with 30 minutes left on the match clock in a dramatic match of the 1989 FIFA U-World Cup. They progressed to the final and lost 2-0 to Portugal in the final. The squad boasted the likes of Nduka Ugbade, Christopher Ohenhen, and Samuel Elijah.
7. Jighere won the Scrabble world title in 2015
Nigeria’s Wellington Jighere won the Scrabble world title triumph in 2015 and in the process became the first African player to be crowned World Scrabble Champion. He defeated Lewis MacKay in four straight rounds to win the inaugural WESPA Championship. Jighere is a two-time African Scrabble Champion and12-time National Champion.
8. D’Tigers won the FIBA Afrobasket title in 2015
The national male basketball team, D’Tigers won their first-ever FIBA Africa title in Tunisia in 2015 by defeating their perennial nemesis, Angola 74-65 in the final, led by Emeka Ugochi, who scored 19 points.
9. Yekini named Africa’s best in 1993
The diadem of Africa’s best football player had eluded Nigerian players until the late Rashidi Yekini, in 1994, showed that he was a cut above the rest. The first Nigerian player to score at the FIFA World Cup, the former 3SC and Vitoria Setubal striker was the lynchpin of the Super Eagles team that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations Cup tournament and reached the heady heights of the No.5-ranked team in the world.
10. Enyimba won the elusive CAF Champions League title in 2003
Enyimba FC of Aba won Nigeria’s first Champions League crown – the CAF Champions league. This trophy eluded Nigeria for 38 years, with three traditional teams Rangers FC, in 1975, Shooting Stars Sports Club [3SC], in 1984 and 1996, Iwuanyanwu Nationale [former Spartans of Owerri], in 1988 having come very close to ending the drought but all three teams were beaten in the competition’s final. Enyimba, coached by Kadiri Ikhana, beat Ismail of Egypt 2–1 on aggregate to end the curse. They also retained the title in 2004.
11. Okocha became Africa’s costliest footballer in 1998
In 1998, just after the FIFA World Cup in France, Austin ‘Jay-Jay’ Okocha was transferred from Fenerbahce of Turkey to PSG of France in a then Africa world record fee of $18 million. The midfield maestro played 84 times and score 14 goals in a four-year stint.
12. Eagles 2018 World Cup jersey is a hit
The Super Eagles debuted a Nike jersey just before the 2018 World Cup in Russia that won various accolades. It was reported that the Eagles’ uniquely designed jersey had pre-orders of over three million around the world. Nike released it to the public on May 29, 2018.
13. Nigeria’s national cricket team qualify for the ICC World League event
Nigeria qualified for the 2009 ICC World Cricket League Division Seven, held in May 2009 in Guernsey. The tournament was the first stage of the qualification structure for the 2015 World Cup.
14. National cricket team qualified for world T-20s
The Nigeria national cricket team made her T-20 debut on 14 September 2018 in Boland Park, South Africa. As a result of Zimbabwe’s suspension, the ICC confirmed that Nigeria to replace them in the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament.
15. ‘Dick Tiger’ won a world title in 1962
Richard ‘Dick Tiger’ Ihetu was Nigeria’s first world boxing champion when he won the world middleweight title in 1962 by beating Gene Fullmer and then in 1966, he won the world light heavyweight title by decisioning Jose Torres of Puerto Rico. Tiger died of liver cancer in 1971, at 42, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.
16. Nigeria’s national football team won gold at the 2nd All-Africa games in 1973
In what was the first of many, the Green Eagles sounded a note of warning to other African football nations that they were ready to compete against and beat the best on the continent. This the Green Eagles confirmed by beating Guinea 2-0 in the final, at the AAG hosted by the country.
17. Eagles became Africa’s best in 1980
The Green Eagles won their first Africa Cup of Nations Cup title in 1980. The event hosted by Nigeria was a showcase for the attacking talents of Segun Odegbami and the rock-solid defending from the captain of the team, Christian Chukwu.
19. Nigeria hosted the U-17 FIFA World Cup
Ten years after hosting the U-20 FIFA World Cup, Nigeria again hosted the world in 2009 in the U-17 category, and the team, the Golden Eaglets, went all the way to the final but were beaten 1-0 by Switzerland. The Nigerian team was tainted with the underage controversy surrounding the captain, Fortune Chukwudi.
20. Chukwumerije won Taekwondo bronze at the 2008 Olympics
Chika Yagazie Chukwumerije qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games and defeated Akmal Irgashev of Uzbekistan to win Nigeria’s first bronze medal in taekwondo at an Olympic Games tournament.
21. Offoin becomes first Nigerian swimmer at the 2000 Olympics
Gentle Offoin qualified for the 2000 Olympic games and competed in the 100m freestyle event where he crashed out in the first round. He was not the first swimmer to qualify; John Ebito holds that record, having qualified for the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, which Nigeria boycotted.
22. Odizor progressed to the Wimbledon fourth round in 1983
Nduka Odizor progressed to the fourth round of the 1983 Wimbledon tennis tournament – the farthest a Nigerian has achieved in lawn tennis. He also got to the highest ranking of 52 in the world in 1984. He is also the first Nigerian to play at an Olympic Games tennis event–representing Nigeria at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
23. Falcons win inaugural AWCON
Nigeria won the inaugural African Women Championship [AWCON] in 1998. The team beat Ghana 2-0 in the final match played at Abeokuta, Ogun state.
24. Falcons have won AWCON 11 times
Nigeria’s female national team, the Falcons has won Africa’s top tournament a record 11 times. The Super Falcons of Nigeria are Africa’s most successful football team, winning the African Women’s Championship for a record 11 times, with 8 coming consecutively.
25. Golden Eagles have been crowned world champions five times
Though tainted by allegations of underage cheating, Nigeria is still the most successful nation in the tournament’s history, winning the title five times and finishing as runners-up on three occasions.
26. Peter won a World Heavyweight boxing title in 2008
Samuel Peter won the WBC Heavyweight title in 2008 when he defeated Oleg Maskaev by TKO in Mexico. Though Peter’s reign lasted only seven months, as a returning Vitali Klitschko eventually defeated him.
27. Nigeria Paralympic athletes debut in 1992 Olympics
The Nigerian Paralympic team made its debut at Paralympic games at the 1992 summer Paralympics in Barcelona. At the games, the team claimed three gold medals, two in Athletics, and one in powerlifting. Since 1992, Nigeria has won 36 gold medals, 18 silver medals, 1nd 16 bronze medals, for 70 medals.
28. Eagles attain top 5 FIFA ranking in 1994
In what is fondly remembered as the golden generation of Nigerian football, coach Clemence Westerhof and his group of players made Africa proud and took the world by storm with their professionalism and style of play. The team was ranked 5th in the April 1994 FIFA rankings, the highest FIFA ranking ever achieved by an African team. To date, Nigeria is the only African country to have risen as high as 5th in FIFA’s monthly rankings.
29. Nigeria has two UFC champions
Both Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman are champions in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Adesanya holds a 20-0 record and is the Middleweight and a bonafide star of the franchise while his compatriot, Usman, is also undefeated with a 12-0 record as the Welterweight champion.
30. Nigeria presents bobsled team at 2018 Winter Olympics Nigeria qualified
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